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Country music is his passion

From rock to folk to country Though Brine now lives in Baldwin, Md., he’s a native of Cambridge, Mass., where he grew up listening to his uncle’s favorite country music — songs by such music legends as Hank Williams, Sr., Roy Acuff and Hank Snow. When he was 10, Brine’s parents bought him a guitar. And when he was 13, he formed a band. Unfortunately, it didn’t really get off the ground “because we didn’t really know how to play!” he recalled with a laugh. In time that problem got solved, and Brine began writing and performing throughout New England. He started out playing lead guitar in a rock band called Trans-Atlantic Subway. The group signed to a local recording label and released a single, “Servant of the People.” After six years with the rock group,

PHOTO BY ARNOLD LEE DICKENS

By Carol Sorgen Mark Brine found his professional calling early on. Today, the 68-year-old writer and singer continues his long career in country music, saying simply (as country singers are apt to), “It’s my life.” Though Brine may not be a household name among casual listeners, country music aficionados know his longstanding reputation in the industry. For example, Pete Smith of Country Music Roundup, wrote: “I think Mark Brine must be Americana’s best kept secret. A singer/songwriter for over 30 years…Brine writes wonderful story songs about ordinary people and ordinary places. To tell these stories, Mark has a voice that is as comfortable as a favorite coat.” Brine uses the term “Americana” to describe his sound, explaining that he means to take the listener back to a time that no longer exists. “One of my favorite artists is Norman Rockwell,” he said. “Though some don’t agree, I consider him a true folk artist, and he had an amazing ability to capture a moment in time. That’s what I’m trying to do with my music. I want to capture that moment in a song.” All told, Brine has released more than 20 singles or albums and CDs, and has performed throughout the United States and Europe.

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L E I S U R E & T R AV E L

Explore Stockholm’s sights this fall; plus, your (limited) rights as a traveler, and sailing on the Queen Mary 2 with fashionista Iris Apfel page 22

ARTS & STYLE Baltimore-based country singer Mark Brine has been nominated for a Grammy twice, and in 2005 was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Traditional Country Music Association. He recently appeared on the PBS show “Song of the Mountains,” and has also published four books with musical themes.

Brine left, turning to folk music. He performed throughout New England in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “That was the height of the folk music boom,” Brine said. But in time he couldn’t deny his musical roots, and became increasingly interested in playing the kind of traditional country music he had grown up listening to. In 1974, Brine moved to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. His timing was somewhat off. “Unfortunately, that kind of music — what some were calling “hillbilly” music — was falling out of favor, even in Nashville,” Brine said. But eventually he signed a publishing and recording contract, and released three singles in 1978: “Hello Lady,” “Coming Home to Love,” and a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Words.” In 1979, after switching labels, he released

the singles “The Carol” (also known as “The Christmas Carol No One Listens For”) and “My Folks Were Like Ma and Pa Kettle.”

See Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph, live and in Technicolor, at Toby’s; plus, watch films under the stars this summer, and a new bartering network for artists page 26

A new base in Baltimore In 1985, Brine and his family moved to Baltimore, so he and his wife could raise their son near her family. Still interested in traditional country music, Brine signed with another label and debuted an album called “Return to Americana,” followed by “American Pieces.” In 1992, his single, “New Blue Yodel,” was released, which caught the attention of his boyhood idol, Hank Snow. Snow invited Brine to appear with him on the Grand Ole Opry, where he described Brine as “a fine See COUNTRY MUSIC, page 27

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Can you relate? You have probably seen some of the im- what treatment, if any, he gets. mense publicity devoted worldwide to the So Charlie’s situation certainly raises terminally ill British infant, difficult questions about who Charlie Gard. gets to make life-and-death Charlie was born with a medical decisions for incarare genetic condition that pacitated patients, who may has, in his 11 months of life so choose to try experimental far, made him blind, deaf, subtreatments, who pays for all ject to seizures, and caused irthis, and many other imporreversible brain damage. He tant issues. cannot breathe without the But the question I want to aid of a ventilator. ask is simply this: Why is There are no known treatCharlie’s case such a lightning ments for his condition, no FROM THE rod for attention and money prospect of reversing any of the PUBLISHER when there are — right now By Stuart P. Rosenthal damage, and only the vaguest — literally hundreds of thoupromise of help through an exsands of children fleeing war perimental treatment proposed by an un- and persecution in Syria, Yemen, Libya and named American doctor who admits the elsewhere, living in refugee camps if they’re treatment has never been tried on any living lucky, drowning in the sea as flimsy boats thing. capsize, if they’re not. And yet, the story of Charlie has generAnd what about the thousands of Cenated huge interest worldwide, and his par- tral American children risking their lives ents’ plea for financial help has generated to enter America illegally to escape povernearly $2 million in contributions through ty and crime, not to mention the thousands social media. of American-born children who go to bed One of the reasons Charlie’s situation hungry each night? has proven so compelling is that the case Do our sincere feelings about Charlie, pits his parents again the British hospital and even our generous online donations to that wants to disconnect life-support. his cause, appropriately salve our conBritish courts will ultimately determine sciences for all the other children (not to

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is privately owned. Other editions serve Howard County, Md., Greater Washington DC and Greater Palm Springs, Calif. Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. Maryland residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below. Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. • Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal • Associate Publisher ..............Judith K. Rosenthal • Vice President, Operations........Gordon Hasenei • Director of Sales ................................Alan Spiegel • Assistant Operations Manager ..........Roger King • Managing Editor............................Barbara Ruben • Contributing Editor ..........................Carol Sorgen • Art Director ........................................Kyle Gregory • Advertising Representatives ............Steve Levin, .................................................................... Paul Whipple • Assistant Editor ..........................Rebekah Alcalde • Intern ....................................................Sununu Bah

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mention their parents and grandparents) whose survival presents an equally urgent concern? History has certainly shown us that individuals are far better able to focus on, and identify with, a single person than a mass of humanity. We grieve for Anne Frank, while we barely consider the rest of her family, much less the millions of others who perished at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during WWII. Yes, we cringe at the memory of nearly 1 million Tutsis massacred in Rwanda in 1994, and the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who died of starvation or disease in Darfur between 2003 and 2010. We tell ourselves “never again.” We won’t let man’s inhumanity to man succeed on this scale again. And yet, the only cause that really generates wide public discussion and practical action is the one we can relate to personally: the individual, especially a helpless infant. In part, this may well be human nature. While our hearts go out to a fellow human being in pain, we are simply not capable of grasping the nature or magnitude of suffering on an immense scale. Another reasonable explanation is that we know our assistance might be able to “make a difference” to one or two people in need. How and what can we do as individuals to help a thousand? A hundred thousand? A million?

The scale is so huge as to overwhelm us and make us retreat into our comfortable lives rather than even imagine what it would take to address the problem. I understand all this. I am no different. I am not in any way trying to cast blame on others. Most of us are guilty of this reasoning. If it’s indeed human nature, how could it be otherwise? But I am disturbed to realize that many of us seem to be more ready and willing to put ourselves out even for a hopeless cause, such as Charlie’s, rather than for, say, a teenager who could go on to live a full life if she could just cross the sea, or the border, or the fence, or even just get regular meals and an education. There is so much need out there, it is easy to succumb to inaction. But when a case like Charlie’s comes up, it should remind us that we are ultimately all family, that each of us is our brother’s keeper, and that we needn’t look far to find a situation where each of us could extend a hand and make a difference. Let each of us pledge to do what we can, on any scale, to make the world a better place by devoting some of our time or money to a needy individual or worthy cause. The opportunities for doing good are almost endless.

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification. Dear Editor: Please pass along my appreciation to publisher Stuart P. Rosenthal for his column, “Thoughts on Tolerance.” The fact it was [originally] written in June 2007 really brings it home. Have we made so little progress? Have we regressed? John Wasowicz Baltimore Dear Editor: Just a short note to let you know that I really enjoyed your June article on arabbers (“Come get your fresh fruits and vegetables!”). My husband and I were leaving the Silvermoon Diner on Pulaski Highway, and I picked up a Beacon. What a surprise to see the article on arabbers! The memories started to come back. I was born and raised in the 600 block of Steeper St. between Monument and McElderry. We were the only block that had porches. It was always good to hear the arabbers’ voices, so I knew they were on the way

and what they would have today. Of course, being a child, my favorite was watermelon. I am 83. My husband LeRoy and I celebrated our 64th anniversary on May 30. LeRoy was born in Rosedale, so that is where we moved when we married, and we’re still here. Thanks for the memories. Ethel Bartholme Dill Rosedale Dear Editor: We enjoyed Carol Sorgen’s July article on volunteering, and appreciated your mentioning our volunteer Barry Glass. Barry is a tremendous asset to the Edward A. Myerberg Center, and puts a smile on the faces of members and visitors. We offer many volunteer opportunities at Myerberg. If any of your readers are interested in volunteering, please call us at (410) 358-6856. Gail Zuskin, Executive Director Edward A. Myerberg Center Baltimore

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

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| 410-358-6856 | myerberg.org

HAPPENINGS AT THE EDWARD A. MYERBERG CENTER

3101 Fallstaﬀ Road, Baltimore SNEAK PREVIEW OF FALL CLASSES! Visit myerberg.org to see our program guide. Registration Opens August 17 at 9:00 a.m. Call to register today 443-963-1449. Better Balance

NEW! Music Enrichment

Wednesdays, September 6 – December 20, 1:15 – 2:00 p.m.

Wednesdays, October 4, 11, 18 & 25, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

$75 Members / $105 Nonmembers

$35 Members / $50 Nonmembers

Join personal trainer David Curtis this summer for seated and standing movements to build balance, stability, strength and confidence; eventually work on ways to get up from the floor. All fitness levels welcome.

Come and enjoy a broad range of music every Wednesday afternoon, including the music from the Big Band era, the powerful symphonies of Bizet and Vivaldi and the lilting voice of Beverly Sills. Instructor: Sharette Kern

Gentle Yoga Fridays, September 8 – December 22, 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.

NEW! Paint n’ Sip Evening

$80 Members / $110 Nonmembers

Thursday, October 19, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Yoga can improve the lives of people of all ages in a variety of ways, including reducing stress, anxiety and depression, and reducing risk of heart condition, obesity, diabetes and cancer. This class will include both seated and standing poses, and participants will use a chair for added support and stability. Instructor: Mica Saunders

$45 Members / $55 Nonmembers Join us for an evening of creative fun, painting (and some wine) with your friends! An instructor will take you step-by-step through the design process to discover your inner artist and create your very own masterpiece! And of course, you will be able to take your painting home with you. All art materials and wine included.

Moxie Movez (Dance Fitness) Wednesdays, September 6 – December 20, 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. $100 Members / $130 Nonmembers This program will incorporate low impact movements, yoga and resistance training, using dance style movements. Instructor: Mica Saunders

Tzoﬁm Israeli Scouts Performance Thursday, August 10, 11:30 a.m. $6 Members / $10 Nonmembers Join us in welcoming the Friendship Caravan to the Myerberg Center. The traveling troupe of 10 talented 17-year-old Tzofim Israeli Scouts will entertain and teach you about Israel through a unique blend of song, dance and story. Enjoy lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a performance by the scouts at 12:30 p.m.

First Thursdays: Women @ the Myerberg Monthly, 1:30 p.m.

Experts recommend exercise for the brain! • Get 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.

(source: The Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH), an independent collaborative of scientists, physicians, scholars and policy experts convened by AARP)

EXERCISE AND WIN! Every time you work out during the month of August, you’ll get a chance to unlock the NEW prize box. Oﬀer valid through August 31, 2017

September 7 – Rikki Spector, “Yes, there is Life after the City Council”

• To stay motivated, consider exercising with other people.

• Incorporate strength training two or more times a week.

$10 per lecture or 3 lectures for $25 August 3 – Felicia Graber, Women and the Holocaust

• Lead a physically active lifestyle.

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Technology &

Innovations Tech devices give early health warning By Lauran Neergaard A next step for smart watches and fitness trackers? Wearable gadgets gave a Stanford University professor an early warning that he was getting sick before he ever felt any symptoms of Lyme disease.

Geneticist Michael Snyder never had Lyme’s characteristic bulls-eye rash. But a smart watch and other sensors charted changes in Snyder’s heart rate and oxygen levels during a family vacation. Eventually a fever struck that led to his diagnosis.

Say “wearables,” and step-counting fitness trackers spring to mind. It’s not clear if they really make a difference in users’ health. Now Snyder’s team at Stanford is starting to find out — tracking the everyday lives of several dozen volunteers wearing devices that

Before you climb

higher look for the wire.

Smart energy. It’s in the overhead power lines that deliver safe and reliable energy to your home or business. But those same power lines must also be avoided. If you’re planning to do work, keep yourself and all ladders, poles or landscaping equipment

monitor more than mere activity. He envisions one day having wearables that act as a sort of “check engine” light, indicating it’s time to see the doctor. “One way to look at this is, these are the equivalent of oral thermometers, but you’re measuring yourself all the time,” said Snyder, senior author of a report released earlier this year on the project. Among the earliest hints: Changes in people’s day-to-day physiology may flag when certain ailments are brewing — from colds to Lyme to Type 2 diabetes, researchers reported in the journal PLOS Biology. Interest in wearable sensors is growing along with efforts to personalize medicine, as scientists learn how to tailor treatments and preventive care to people’s genes, environment and lifestyle. The sensors are expected to be a part of the National Institutes of Health’s huge “precision medicine” study, planned to begin later this year.

Finding the norm But a first step is learning what’s normal for different people under different conditions. The Stanford team is collecting reams of data — as many as 250,000 daily measurements — from volunteers who wear up to eight activity monitors or other sensors of varying sizes that measure heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, sleep, calories expended, exercise and even exposure to radiation. That’s paired with occasional laboratory tests to measure blood chemistry and some genetic information. An initial finding: Blood oxygen levels decrease with rising altitudes during plane flights, in turn triggering fatigue. But toward the end of long flights, oxygen begins rising again, possibly as bodies adapt, the researchers reported. It was that phenomenon that alerted Snyder, the longest-tested participant, “that something wasn’t quite right” on one of his frequent long flights. Landing in Norway for a family vacation,

at least 10 feet away from them—that’s the law. Call BGE at See TECH DEVICES, page 6

800.685.0123 before starting any work within 10 feet. Also don’t build playhouses and tree forts in trees with power lines running through or near them. To learn more about safety around power lines, visit BGE.COM.

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MicroMentor, a free online community of entrepreneurs and volunteer business mentors, is looking to expand its network of small business owners. Volunteers set their own schedule and serve as coaches and trusted guides to aspiring business owners. For more information or to register as a mentor, visit www.micromentor.org.

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Roadtrippers is a web and mobile travel planning platform that takes you anywhere in the United States, from Point A to Point B, and allows you to explore the premium sites and attractions along the way. Once you have decided where you plan to go, the platform displays a list of places to visit within the area, ranging from points of interest, entertainment and nightlife, to outdoors and recreation. As you go along, you can find and save places you are interested in visiting, and the program will sync with your Apple or Google Maps application, deliver the optimum route, and tell you the estimated fuel cost for your trip. After a long day of travel, Roadtrippers allows you to find places to stay near your current location or further along your route. https://roadtrippers.com

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Love technology (or wish you did)? The Aging and Place Technology Watch is a blog designed for boomers and seniors that aims to inform them about the tech industry and about new technologies that will enhance their lives. Founder, Laurie M. Orlov, uses her experience as a tech industry analyst to advocate for and help older adults as a public speaker and through her writing. She tests and writes up the latest programs and apps, and evaluates their pros and cons. Her mission is to give her audience the “ability to live in one’s own home for as long, as confidently and comfortably as possible.” www.ageinplacetech.com

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Tech devices From page 4 Snyder noticed his oxygen levels didn’t return to normal like they always had before. Plus, his heart rate was much higher than normal, which sometimes signals infection. Sure enough, soon a low-grade fever left him dragging. He feared Lyme because two weeks before going abroad, Snyder had helped his brother build a fence in a tick-in-

Links & Apps From page 5 the desire to provide a helping hand to a young person who needs it, consider becoming a mentor. At mentoring.org, you can sign up and indicate the type of mentoring you hope to provide, and the age range you feel comfortable working with. The National Mentoring Partnership will connect you with a mentoring program and a youth to assist. www.mentoring.org

fested rural area in Massachusetts. He persuaded a Norwegian doctor to prescribe the appropriate antibiotic, and post-vacation testing back home confirmed the diagnosis. Also, during the study’s first two years, Snyder and several other volunteers had minor cold-like illnesses that began with higher-than-normal readings for heart rate and skin temperature — and correlated with blood tests showing inflammation was on the rise before any sniffling.

Apps More organized travel Whether planning a domestic or international trip, we all know the stress involved and the long lists of items we need to remember. The Centers for Disease Control has come up with its TravWell app to ease the

AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

In addition, the Stanford team detected variations in heart rate patterns that could tell the difference between study participants and healthy people with regard to insulin resistance — a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.

Not ready for prime time Now, don’t try to self-diagnose with your fitness tracker any time soon. The findings in the report are intriguing, but the study is highly experimental, cautioned medical

stress. It provides a checklist of tasks and items to pack for your trip, and allows you to easily edit, add or remove items from the list. TravWell also lets you store and manage your travel, medication and immunization documents. It also gives vaccine recommendations for your destination, and lets you set reminders to get your vaccines in advance and to take your medications while on the road. You can find TravWell on the Apple App and Google Play stores for free.

Score the best online deals We all love to save money. Rather than search for coupons, download the free Honey plug-in. When buying something online, Honey will automatically scan the Internet for any possible coupon codes for your purchase and apply them to save you money. You can decide to opt out of using it during checkout if you wish. Some items will not quality for coupons, but may offer a chance to earn “HoneyGold”

technology specialist Dr. Atul Butte of the University of California, San Francisco, who wasn’t involved with the research. “This kind of approach is going to help science more than the general public” until there’s better data about what’s normal or not, Butte said. “Remember, the baseline is always in motion. We’re always getting older. We’re always exposed to things. Just because there’s a deviation doesn’t mean it’s abnormal.” — AP

points, which can be redeemed for money. Honey is a free browser extension that can used with the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera browsers. For more information, visit www.joinhoney.com.

Save those pricey items Have you ever wanted an item that you can’t currently afford? The app Hafta Have allows shoppers to save the items they see in real life to an online list for later. The app will also notify you when the item has been put on sale or restocked. Just walk into a store and scan the barcodes of the pieces you desire to add them to your virtual “cart.” If you have anything else in mind, search, shop and add them to your cart as well. You can also select items from other retailers, and check them out all from within the app. Hafta Have is available free, but only in the Apple App store. Sununu Bah is a summer intern at the Beacon.

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Health Fitness &

LOW BACK PAIN A range of treatments can combat this common, expensive problem TESTOSTERONE THERAPY Treatments for low-T are available, but they aren’t right for everyone STUDYING COCOA Study asks if cocoa and/or multivitamins ward off heart disease and cancer FALLS RISING More older adults are suffering concussions and other brain injuries from falls

Living drugs: new frontier in cancer care By Lauran Neergaard Ken Shefveland’s body was swollen with cancer, treatment after treatment failing until doctors gambled on a radical approach: They removed some of his immune cells, engineered them into cancer assassins and unleashed them into his bloodstream. Immune therapy is the hottest trend in cancer care and this is its next frontier — creating “living drugs” that grow inside the body into an army that seeks and destroys tumors. Looking in the mirror, Shefveland saw “the cancer was just melting away.” A month later doctors at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center couldn’t find any signs of lymphoma in the man’s body. “Today I find out I’m in full remission — how wonderful is that?” said Shefveland with a wide grin, giving his physician a quick embrace.

Still in early stage studies This experimental therapy marks an entirely new way to treat cancer — if scientists can make it work, safely. Early-stage

studies are stirring hope as one-time infusions of supercharged immune cells help a remarkable number of patients with intractable leukemia or lymphoma. “It shows the unbelievable power of your immune system,” said Dr. David Maloney, Fred Hutch’s medical director for cellular immunotherapy, who treated Shefveland with a type called CAR-T cells. “We’re talking, really, patients who have no other options, and we’re seeing tumors and leukemias disappear over weeks,” added immunotherapy scientific director Dr. Stanley Riddell. But, “there’s still lots to learn.” T cells are key immune system soldiers. But cancer can be hard for them to spot, and can put the brakes on an immune attack. Today’s popular immunotherapy drugs called “checkpoint inhibitors” release one brake so nearby T cells can strike. The new cellular immunotherapy approach aims to be more potent: Give patients stronger T cells to begin with. The first step for treatment recipients is much like donating blood. When leukemia

patient Claude Bannick entered a Hutch CAR-T study in 2014, nurses hooked him to a machine that filtered out his white blood cells, including the T cells. Technicians raced his bag of cells to a factory-like facility that’s kept so sterile they must pull on germ-deflecting suits, booties and masks just to enter. Then came 14 days of wait and worry, as his cells were reprogrammed. Bannick, 67, says he “was almost dead.” Chemotherapy, experimental drugs, even a bone marrow transplant had failed, and “I was willing to try anything.” Bannick said Maloney called him “the miracle man.” He had some lingering side effects that required blood-boosting infusions, but said CAR-T is “giving me a second life.” Currently available only in studies at major cancer centers, the first CAR-T cell therapies for a few blood cancers could hit the market later this year. The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating one version developed by the University of Pennsylvania and licensed to Novartis, and an-

other created by the National Cancer Institute and licensed to Kite Pharma. CAR-T therapy “feels very much like it’s ready for prime time” for advanced blood cancers, said Dr. Nick Haining of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who isn’t involved in the development. Now scientists are tackling a tougher next step, what Haining calls “the acid test” — making T cells target far more common cancers: solid tumors like lung, breast or brain cancer. Cancer kills about 600,000 Americans a year, including nearly 45,000 from leukemia and lymphoma. “There’s a desperate need,” said NCI immunotherapy pioneer Dr. Steven Rosenberg, pointing to queries from hundreds of patients for studies that accept only a few.

A risky, costly treatment For all the excitement, there are formidable challenges. Scientists still are unraveling why these livSee LIVING DRUGS, page 8

Botox is safe, effective for facial wrinkles By Alina Bridges Dear Mayo Clinic: Does Botox work on deep forehead wrinkles, or do you have to catch them early for it to make a big difference? Is long-term use safe? What happens if I have the injections regularly for a few years, but then quit? Will my forehead look worse than if I had never gotten Botox? A: Botox is safe to use long term, and you can stop using it at any time without your skin looking worse than it did before you started Botox. Botox injections use forms of botulinum toxin to paralyze muscle activity temporarily. This toxin is produced by the bacterium that causes botulism, a type of food poisoning. Botox injections are popular for reducing the appearance of facial wrinkles. The injections are used to treat other medical conditions, too, such as repetitive neck spasms, excessive sweating, overactive bladder and lazy eye. The injections also may help prevent chronic migraines in some people. When used for cosmetic purposes, however, medical insurance does

not cover Botox treatments. Botulinum toxin injections block certain chemical signals from nerves, mostly signals that cause muscles to contract. This temporarily relaxes the facial muscles that underlie and cause wrinkles, including forehead furrows.

Considerations for older users All forms of Botox injections approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for forehead wrinkles are intended for people 65 and younger. Age is a factor because studies show that people who receive the most benefit from the injections are 65 and younger. Beyond that age, the medication may not be as effective. That is not to say, however, that people older than 65 can’t or shouldn’t use Botox. For older adults to achieve the same results as younger patients, Botox should be used in combination with facial fillers injected into the skin to soften wrinkles. For Botox injections, your healthcare provider uses a thin needle to inject tiny amounts of botulinum toxin into your skin. The number of injections you need will

vary, depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the area being treated. Botulinum toxin injections usually begin working a few days after treatment. The effect may last up to three months or longer. To maintain the benefits of Botox, you need regular follow-up injections. Botox has been shown to be safe for both short- and long-term use. (Data for treatment of wrinkles with Botox only go back about 15 years, however.) Botox for wrinkles uses a much smaller dose than patients receive for other conditions, such as muscle spasticity. Significant safety concerns have not been identified in people who receive larger doses of Botox for those other problems — further supporting its safety for cosmetic use.

Potential side effects However, Botox can be dangerous if it’s given incorrectly. To ensure your safety, you should only receive Botox under the care of an experienced healthcare provider, such as a board-certified dermatologist, plastic surgeon, eye plastic surgeon or otolaryngologist who has personally examined you.

These subspecialists have the most expertise to minimize complications and treat them if a complication occurs. Although uncommon, Botox injections can produce side effects, including pain, swelling or bruising at the injection site, headache, flu-like symptoms, and eye dryness or excessive tearing, among others. If you decide to stop using Botox, your forehead wrinkles will go back to the way they looked before you started the injections. Your face will not become more wrinkled as a result of Botox. Muscle strength and movement in your forehead also will return to normal when you discontinue Botox use. — Alina Bridges, D.O., Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. E-mail a question to MayoClinicQ&A@ mayo.edu. For more information, visit www. mayoclinic.org. © 2017 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Living drugs From page 7 ing cancer drugs work for some people and not others. And doctors must learn to manage potentially life-threatening side effects from an overstimulated immune system. Also concerning is a small number of deaths from brain swelling — an unexplained complication that forced another company, Juno Therapeutics, to halt development of one CAR-T in its pipeline. Kite recently reported a death, too. Since the treatment is made from scratch for every patient using their own blood, it is

one of the most customized therapies ever and could cost patients hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It’s a Model A Ford and we need a Lamborghini,” said CAR-T researcher Dr. Renier Brentjens of New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which, like Hutch, has a partnership with Juno. “We can essentially make a cell do things it wasn’t programmed to do naturally,” explained immunology chief Dr. Philip Greenberg. “Your imagination can run wild with how you can engineer cells to function better.” The goal: Arm T cells with an artificial re-

AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

ceptor, a tracking system that can zero in on identifying markers of cancer cells, known as antigens. For many leukemias and lymphomas, that’s an antigen named CD19. Every research group has its own recipe, but generally, scientists infect T cells with an inactive virus carrying genetic instructions to grow the desired “chimeric antigen receptor.” That CAR will bind to its target cancer cells and rev up for attack. Millions of copies of engineered cells are grown in incubators, Hutch technicians pulling out precious batches to monitor if they’re ready for waiting patients. If they work, those cells will keep multiplying in the body. If they don’t, the doctors send blood and other samples back to researchers like Riddell to figure out why.

Early successes

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Small, early studies in the U.S. made headlines as 60 to 90 percent of patients trying CAR-Ts as a last resort for leukemia or lymphoma saw their cancer rapidly decrease or even become undetectable. In June, Chinese researchers reported similar early findings, as 33 of 35 patients with another blood cancer, multiple myeloma, reached some degree of remission within two months. Too few people have been studied so far to know how long such responses will last. A recent review reported up to half of leukemia and lymphoma patients may relapse. There are long-term survivors, however. Doug Olson in 2010 received the University of Pennsylvania’s CAR-T version for leukemia. The researchers were frank — it had worked in mice but they didn’t know what would happen to him. “Sitting here almost seven years later, I can tell you it works,” Olson, now 70, told a recent meeting of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Coping with side effects “The more side effects you have, that sort of tells everybody it’s working,” said Shefveland, who was hospitalized soon after his treatment at Hutch when his blood pressure collapsed. His last clear memory for days: “I was having a conversation with a nurse, and all of a sudden it was gibberish.” As CAR-T cells swarm the cancer, an immune overreaction called “cytokine release syndrome” can trigger high fevers and plummeting blood pressure and, in severe cases, organ damage. Some patients also experience confusion, hallucinations or other neurologic symptoms. Treatment is a balancing act to control those symptoms without shutting down the cancer attack. Experienced cancer centers have learned to expect and watch for these problems. “And, most importantly, we’ve learned how to treat them,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society, who is watching CAR-T’s development. CAR-Ts cause collateral damage, killing some healthy white blood cells, called B cells, along with cancerous ones because both harbor the same marker. Finding the right target to kill solid tumors but not healthy organ tissue will be even more complicated. “You can live without some normal B cells. You can’t live without your lungs,” Riddell said. Early studies against solid tumors are beginning, targeting different antigens. Timelapse photos taken through a microscope in Riddell’s lab show those new CAR-T cells crawling over aggressive breast cancer, releasing toxic chemicals until tumor cells shrivel and die. CARs aren’t the only approach. Researchers also are trying to target markers inside tumor cells rather than on the surface, or even gene mutations that don’t form in See LIVING DRUGS, page 9

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

Some tips for those with low back pain By Monique Tello, M.D. Low back pain is the second leading cause of disability in the United States, and the fourth worldwide. It’s also one of the top five medical problems for which people see doctors. Almost every day that I see patients, I see someone with back pain. It’s one of the top reasons for lost wages due to missed work, as well as for healthcare dollars spent. Hence, it’s a very expensive problem.

What causes the pain? Let’s talk about the most common forms

Living drugs From page 8 healthy tissue. “It’s ironic that the very mutations that cause the cancer are very likely to be the Achilles heel,” NCI’s Rosenberg said. And studies are beginning to test CARTs in combination with older immunotherapy drugs, in hopes of overcoming tumor defenses. If the FDA approves Novartis’ or Kite’s versions, eligible leukemia and lymphoma patients would be treated at cancer centers experienced with this tricky therapy. Their

of back pain: acute (which lasts less than four weeks) and subacute (which lasts four to 12 weeks). Most of these cases (approximately 85 percent) are due to harmless causes. We lump them into the “mechanical back pain” diagnosis, which includes muscle spasm, ligament strain and arthritis. A handful (3 to 4 percent) will be due to potentially more serious causes, such as herniated discs (“bulging” discs), spondylolisthesis (“slipped” discs), a compression fracture of the vertebra due to osteoporosis (collapsed bone due to bone thinning), or spinal stenosis (squeezing of the spinal

T cells would be shipped to company factories, engineered, and shipped back. Gradually, more hospitals could offer it. Because only certain patients would qualify for the first drugs, others would have to search for CAR-T studies to try the treatment. A drug industry report lists 21 CAR-T therapies in development by a dozen companies. “This is the hope of any cancer patient, that if you stay in the game long enough, the next treatment’s going to be just around the corner,” said Shefveland, the Hutch patient. — AP

cord due to arthritis). Rarely, less than 1 percent of the time, we will see pain due to inflammation (such as ankylosing spondylitis), cancer (usually metastases) or infection. When someone with acute low back pain comes into the office, my main job is to rule out one of these potentially more serious conditions through my interview and exam. It is only when we suspect a cause other than “mechanical” that we will then order imaging or labs, and then

things can go in a different direction. But most of the time, we’re dealing with a relatively benign, and yet really painful, disabling and expensive condition. How do we treat this? The sheer number of treatments is dizzying, but truly effective treatment options are few.

Numerous treatments analyzed The American College of Physicians See LOW BACK PAIN, page 10

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Low back pain From page 9 (ACP), the second-largest physician group in the U.S., recently updated guidelines for the management of low back pain. Its physician researchers combed through hundreds of published studies of non-interventional treatments of back pain and analyzed the data. Treatments included medicines such as acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen), opioids (such as oxycodone), muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines (such as lorazepam and diazepam), antidepressants (like fluoxetine or nortriptyline), anti-seizure medications (like Neurontin), and systemic corticosteroids (like prednisone). The analysis also included studies on

non-drug treatments — including acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, tai chi, yoga, motor control exercise (working the muscles that support and control the spine), progressive relaxation, biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, behavior based therapies, and spinal manipulation for low back pain. Researchers were interested in studies that measured the effectiveness (usually measured as pain relief and physical functioning) as well as the harms of all these therapies.

Best solutions aren’t meds What the researchers found was surprising: For acute and subacute low back pain, the best and safest treatments are not medicines. The ACP made the following strong recommendation:

AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Most patients with acute or subacute low back pain improve over time regardless of treatment, and can avoid potentially harmful and costly treatments and tests. First-line therapy should include nondrug therapy, such as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture or spinal manipulation. When nondrug therapy fails, consider NSAIDs or skeletal muscle relaxants. Because most mechanical back pain improves no matter what, we don’t want to prescribe treatment that can cause harm. Because some medications carry significant risks, we really shouldn’t be recommending these right off the bat. Rather, we should be providing guidance on heating pad or hot water bottle use, and recommendations or referrals to acupuncturists, massage therapists and chiropractors. These therapies were somewhat effective, and are very unlikely to cause harm. Medicines like ibuprofen and naproxen can be helpful, but they can cause stomach inflammation and ulcers, as well as possible bleeding, and even kidney damage, especially in older adults. Muscle relaxants can be sedating, and

can interact with other common medications. Benzodiazepines and opiates not only can cause sedation, making it hard to think clearly and function normally, they are also addictive. Basically, for acute and subacute low back pain, the risks of these medications outweigh the benefits. Other medications, like acetaminophen, steroids, antidepressants and anti-seizure medications, were not significantly helpful for acute and subacute low back pain at all. The study was missing a few potentially helpful low-risk medicines. Topicals such as the lidocaine patch or capsaicin ointment were not included, which is a shame, as these can provide relief for some people, and carry little risk. I would also be interested to know if over-the-counter topical therapies containing menthol and camphor are better than placebo for low back pain. Courtesy of Harvard Health Blog. Monique Tello, M.D., M.P.H., is a contributing editor to Harvard Health Publications. © 2017 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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July 20+

FREE PROGRAMS FOR CAREGIVERS

The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center is offering three free “pop-up” support programs for caregivers. The first café opens at the Soul Center at Beth El Congregation at 8101 Park Heights Ave. in Pikesville on Thursday, July 20 from 2 to 3 p.m. To register for this event, email rachels@bethelbal.com or call (410) 484-0411, ext. 1103. The second program will take place on Friday, July 21, at the Zeta Center for Healthy and Active Aging at 4501 Reisterstown Rd. in Baltimore from noon to 1:15 p.m. No registration is required. The last event for July will take place on Wednesday, July 26 from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Francis Scott Key Pavilion at the 5th floor waiting room, located at 4940 Eastern Ave. in Baltimore. No registration is required. For more information about the cafés, contact Linda Stewart at (410) 550-1660.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Testosterone therapy is helpful for some Dear Mayo Clinic: I’m a 56-year-old man without any health problems. Recently, I’ve noticed I don’t have the energy for physical activities that I used to. Working in the yard, riding my bike, and even just doing jobs around the house all wear me out much faster now than even five years ago. My sex drive is lower, too. I see ads all the time for testosterone therapy and what a difference it can make for men my age. Should I give it a try? Is it safe? A: Recent research shows that testosterone therapy can be useful in some cases, but it’s not right for all men. To see if it could be helpful for you, start by making an appointment with your doctor to have your testosterone level checked. Testosterone is a hormone produced primarily in the testicles. Testosterone helps maintain men’s bone density, fat distribution, muscle strength and mass, red blood cell production, sex drive and sperm production. For most men, testosterone peaks during adolescence and early adulthood. Then, as men get older, testosterone levels gradually fall. If testosterone drops below a certain level, it can cause symptoms. Fatigue and low sexual interest are common. Some men also see changes in beard and body hair growth. Muscle wasting and a decrease in muscle strength can be a result of low testosterone, too. Your doctor can use a blood test to check your testosterone level. Even if your testosterone level is found to be low,

though, testosterone therapy is not automatically the answer. It’s also important to determine any potential causes or associated conditions of low testosterone before moving forward with treatment. In some cases, medical conditions can contribute to low testosterone, including thyroid problems, obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, depression and excessive alcohol use. Some medications may cause testosterone levels to drop, as well.

Get an evaluation As part of your evaluation, your doctor should review your current medications and check for underlying medical problems that could be contributing to your symptoms. If your testosterone is low and a medical condition is identified, treatment for that disorder may be all you need to bring your testosterone level back into the normal range. A change in medications also could make a difference. If low testosterone isn’t due to medication or a medical problem, then taking prescription testosterone replacement may be beneficial. Numerous studies have found that testosterone may be helpful for men experiencing symptoms as a result of low testosterone. In many cases, however, the effects are modest. In men with normal levels of testosterone, taking prescription testosterone generally has no effect for most symptoms.

testosterone, prescription testosterone may have other benefits, including reducing fat mass, improving lean muscle mass, strengthening bones and improving insulin sensitivity. Taking prescription testosterone does have risks. It may cause production of more red blood cells (a condition known as polycythemia); increase prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in the blood; enlarge breasts; or reduce sperm production. Testosterone therapy does not cause cancer, including prostate cancer. If your doctor recommends that you take testosterone, you need regular blood tests to make sure the prescribed dose is correct, as too much testosterone potentially can lead to other medical problems.

Although most studies suggest that testosterone therapy does not increase the risk of heart attacks or stroke, and that it may even be protective in some cases, there is not enough information to prove its safety conclusively among older men with cardiovascular risk factors. To see if testosterone therapy may be right for you, make an appointment to see your doctor and assess your symptoms. He or she can do a thorough evaluation and help you decide what, if any, treatment you may need. — Landon Trost, M.D., Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. © 2017 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Health Studies Page

AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Can cocoa flavanols prevent disease? By Rebekah Alcalde Chocolate lovers may be on to something. A new long-term study is trying to find out if taking daily, dietary supplements of cocoa extract containing cocoa flavanols and theobromine from the cocoa bean, and/or a standard multivitamin reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer. The study is being conducted in a partnership by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., and volunteers are being recruited nationwide. The study, called COSMOS, “is the largest and longest duration dietary intervention trial to date that will investigate the impact of cocoa flavanols on risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease,” explained lead investigator Dr. JoAnn Manson, who is also chief of the division of preventative medicine at the

hospital. They will also be testing multivitamins to see if they have similar effects. This national trial is conducted primarily by mail and can be done remotely. They plan to enroll 18,000 participants nationwide to participate in the study for four years.

Studies indicate benefit Cocoa is a fermented product made from the bean of the cocoa tree, and preliminary research suggests it can have a powerful impact on your health. Small randomized trials have demonstrated promising benefits for cocoa flavanols, including improving blood pressure, lipid (cholesterol) levels, and the body’s insulin sensitivity, which decreases the chance of getting Type 2 Diabetes. For multivitamins, a prior large-scale randomized trial in middle-aged and older men showed a significant reduction in cancer, but

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comparable trial data in women are lacking. For both products, a large-scale clinical trial such as COSMOS could have major clinical and public health implications. Additionally, COSMOS will examine how cocoa flavanols affect brain health. Smaller studies from Columbia University Medical Center and the University of L’Aquila in Italy “indicate that cocoa flavanols may help with multiple aspects of cognitive health and function, including slowing the rate of age-related memory loss in healthy individuals,” Manson said. Over the course of the trial, approximately 4,000 participants will be asked to complete four web-based assessments of their cognitive functioning, which each take about 25 minutes to complete.

Getting involved Interested individuals first complete questionnaires that will determine if they are eligible to participate, together with an informed consent form. The questionnaires ask about health, lifestyle habits (such as exercise, diet, smoking), use of medications and dietary supplements, and family history of illness. Those individuals invited to participate in the study will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) daily cocoa extract and multivitamin; (2) daily cocoa extract and multivitamin placebo; (3) daily cocoa extract placebo and multivitamin; or (4) daily cocoa extract placebo and multivitamin placebo. A placebo looks exactly like the study supplement, but it contains no active ingredients. No matter which group a participant is assigned to, she or he will take three pills

each day — two capsules that contain either cocoa extract or cocoa extract placebo, and one tablet that contains either a multivitamin or multivitamin placebo. Participants will receive their study pills in convenient calendar packages via postal mail. Each year that a participant is in the research study, she or he will receive a mailed questionnaire that takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. These forms are similar to the original eligibility forms. Occasionally, participants will be contacted by phone to collect information or to clarify questionnaire responses.

Eligibility and requirements Eligible participants include women who are 65 and older and men 60 and older, who have not had a heart attack, stroke or cancer diagnosed in the past two years (excluding skin cancer), or any major illness that would affect the study. Participants must also have no history of myocardial infarction or stroke, any extreme sensitivity to caffeine — since cocoa naturally contains caffeine — or be unable to communicate in English due to language barrier or mental incapacity. During the study, they must also forgo personal use of multivitamins and cocoa extract supplements. Also, they must limit their total intake of vitamin D (besides the study medication) from supplements to 1000 IU or less per day, and their total intake of calcium from supplements to 1200 mg. or less per day. On the plus side, participants can still eat chocolate. For more information, visit www.cosmostrial.org/join or call 1-800-633-6913.

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Ongoing

COMMUNITY GARDEN LOT Community Gardens throughout the Baltimore area need volun-

teers to “adopt-a-lot’ and help grow food to support their communities. To find an established Community Garden in your neighborhood, visit www.baltimarket.org/community-gardensadopt-a-lot.

Ongoing All eligible study participants may receive at no cost: CONSULTATION WITH STUDY DOCTOR STUDY DRUGS STUDY-RELATED CARE AND VISITS

Have you tried different depression medications and not received adequate symptom relief? Then take yourself to our investigational study. We're developing an investigational drug designed to work with antidepressants to see if it can help address unresolved symptoms. As long as you’re 18 years of age or older, you may be eligible for the study whether or not you are currently taking an antidepressant.

VET-TO-VET VOLUNTEERS The Hospice of the Chesapeake, a fully-licensed, communitybased nonprofit organization, is looking for veteran volunteers to

take part in their program Vet-to-Vet Volunteer Program throughout Anne Arundel County. Each veteran is paired with a veteran hospice patient. They will be able to speak with and provide company to patients, while relating to the patients’ unique experiences. For more information, call (443) 837-1549 or email joinus@hospicechesapeake.org.

Aug. 25

SMART DRIVER COURSE Arbutus Senior Center will offer an AARP Smart Driver Course on Friday, Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The class will teach tech-

niques to help you improve your driving as you age. The cost is $15 for AARP members and $20 for others. Register in advance at the senior center front desk, 855A Sulphur Spring Rd., Arbutus. Call (410) 887-1410 for more information.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Falls take a rising toll on older brains By Mike Stobbe Older adults are suffering concussions and other brain injuries from falls at what appear to be unprecedented rates, according to a new report from U.S. government researchers. The reason for the increase isn’t clear, the report’s authors said. But one likely factor is that a growing number of older people are living at home and taking repeated tumbles, said one expert. “Many older adults are afraid their independence will be taken away if they admit to falling, and so they minimize it,” said Dr. Lauren Southerland, an Ohio State University emergency physician who specializes in geriatric care. But what may seem like a mild initial fall may cause concussions or other problems that increase the chances of future falls — and more severe injuries, she said. Whatever the cause, the numbers are striking, according to the new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in every 45 Americans 75 and older suffered brain injuries that resulted in emergency department visits, hospitalizations or deaths in 2013. The rate for that age group jumped 76 percent from 2007.

The rate of these injuries for people of all ages rose 39 percent over that time, hitting a record level, the CDC found. The report, which explored brain injuries in general, also found an increase in brain injuries from suicides and suicide attempts, mainly gunshot wounds to the head. Brain injuries from car crashes fell.

Fall risk factors But older adults suffered at far higher rates than any other group. It’s well known that falls among older adults are common. They are more likely to have impaired vision, dizziness and other de-stabilizing health problems, and are less likely than younger people to have the strength and agility to find their feet once they begin to lose their balance. The CDC had already reported that falls were the top cause of injuries and deaths from injury among older people; an estimated 27,000 Americans die each year from falls. But even experts on elderly falls said the new numbers were striking. Health officials have been increasing their focus on brain injuries among all ages, especially younger people. CDC investigators thought the overall rise in

BEACON BITS

July 29+

SHAKESPEAREAN WATER BALLET

Shakespeare meets synchronized swimming in Fluid Movement’s annual water ballet “Sharkespeare.” The tale tells of Sharkespeare and his assistant Shakesbear as they attempt to herd their crew of actors, swimmers and ne’er-do-wells on and off-stage at the Druid Hill pool, located at 800 Wyman Park Dr. on Saturday, July 29 through Sunday, July 30 at 5 and 7 p.m., and at the Patterson Park Pool, at 148 S. Linwood Ave. on Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6 at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Tickets are now on sale for $5 for Druid Hill and $10 for Patterson Park. For more information, visit www.mt.cm/sharkespeare or call (410) 982-0799.

brain injuries might be mainly caused by rising awareness of sports-related head injuries in kids and young adults, and more diagnosis of injuries in that group that in the past were not recorded. “But when we dug a little bit more into the numbers, we found the larger driver is older adult falls,” said the CDC’s Matt Breiding, a co-author of the new report. The toll from such falls has been underrecognized by physicians and by seniors themselves, Southerland said. When falls do occur, older people tend to downplay it, she said.

One fall begets another But one fall can quickly lead to others. In a study published last year, Southerland and other Ohio State researchers found that more than a third of older adults with minor head injuries end up back in the ER within 90 days. Even when they see a doctor, the future

risk may be missed. In hospital emergency departments, it’s not unusual for a 25-yearold athlete who fell on his head to get a more thorough evaluation for concussion than an older retiree, said Southerland, who is trying to develop a standard for assessing concussions in geriatric ER patients. Surveys show that most older adults want to live at home for as long as possible. Research is mixed on what the healthiest and safest setting is for a senior — often it depends on the individual. “There are people falling in nursing homes as well,” Southerland said. Older adults are advised to have their vision checked regularly, and to do Tai Chi or other exercises that can strengthen legs and improve balance. Experts also advise making an older person’s home safer by removing loose rugs and other tripping hazards, improving lighting, and installing handrails and grab bars on stairs and in bathrooms. — AP

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AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Grilled salmon: tasty with miso and lime By Melissa D’Arabian Salmon season has arrived, and the markets are brimming with gorgeous wild varieties like King Salmon and Coho, which are perfect for grilling, poaching, or even simply cooking in a lightly-oiled pan. With summer here, fire up the barbecue and master the grilled salmon — it’s an incredibly versatile blank canvas that you can use in everything from light salads, to

heady curries, to spicy tacos. Coat salmon fillets with a little oil, salt and pepper, and cook until the salmon is almost opaque. “Cook until flaky” is bad advice that will leave your salmon overcooked and strong-flavored. One of our summertime favorites is Easy Summer Miso Salmon, which pairs miso with refreshing lime juice to create something between a creamy sauce and a citrus

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

HELP REPORT DOLPHIN SIGHTINGS

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is asking people who spend a lot of time around Chesapeake Bay to report dolphin sightings. Their new system, Chesapeake DolphinWatch, allows users to mark the location of their dolphin sighting on a map, which will provide a better understanding for scientists about where the dolphins are and where they go. To start tracking or for more information, visit www.chesapeakedolphinwatch.org/info.

vinaigrette. Miso, or fermented soy bean paste, adds a ton of savory flavor (“umami”) and depth, while the lime juice keeps the recipe bright and summery. There’s garlic and ginger for flavor, but the shallot keeps the flavor more Californian than Asian, although you could certainly add soy sauce, Mirin (Japanese wine), and chopped cilantro if you wanted to. Serve with brown rice, grilled veggies or a bunch of vegetable “noodles” for a filling and healthy summer supper. Miso paste comes in various colors, with white and yellow being the mildest varieties, and perhaps the most widely available ones at the local supermarket. Keep a container of miso in the fridge (it lasts for months), and you can try adding a spoonful to soups, stews, dressings and dips, or even just stir it into a cup of boiling water and add a splash of soy sauce and rice vinegar for a warming quick broth. Miso is low in calories, and offers a little protein and a smattering of minerals, including sodium, so you won’t likely need additional salt when using miso paste.

Easy summer salmon Servings: 6 Start to finish: 20 minutes For the salmon: 1 1/2 pounds wild Alaskan salmon fillet, such as King or Coho 1 teaspoon neutral oil, like olive or grapeseed 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper For the sauce: 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 shallots, minced 2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger 3 tablespoons white miso paste 1 teaspoon raw honey 1/4 cup lime juice (or lemon juice) 3-4 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Heat the grill to medium and lightly oil the grates. Rub the salmon all over with the olive oil, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Cook the salmon flesh side down first, (skin side up), until almost cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes total, flipping halfway through. Meanwhile, make the sauce (or it can be made in advance). Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small saute pan and cook the shallots until tender, about three minutes. (Sprinkle with a little splash of water if needed to keep shallots from browning.) Add the ginger and garlic and cook another minute. Add the miso paste and mix with a wooden spoon for another minute or two, or until very fragrant and the miso paste begins to deepen a little in color. Remove from heat, cool a minute, and then place in the blender with the honey, lime juice, water, mustard and black pepper, and blend until smooth. Add extra water if needed. Spoon the miso sauce onto the hot salmon and serve with brown rice or veggies. Chef’s note: The sauce can also be made into a salad dressing by thinning with more water and lime juice. Nutrition information per serving: 220 calories; 94 calories from fat; 10 g. fat (2 g. saturated; 0 g. trans fats); 62 mg. cholesterol; 443 mg. sodium; 7 g. carbohydrate; 0 g. fiber; 3 g. sugar; 23 g. protein. For more recipes, see www.melissadarabian.net. — AP

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

PEER FACILITATOR FOR SHELTER

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Baltimore is in need of peer facilitators for their projects in homeless shelters. Groups meet Monday afternoons under the guidance of two volunteer facilitators. NAMI provides a two-day training program to all volunteers. A minimum of two hours per month is required for the position. For more information, call NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore at (410) 435-2600.

July 22

NAACP CONVENTION

The nation’s oldest civil rights organization is hosting its 108th national convention in Baltimore from Saturday, July 22 through Wednesday, July 26 at the Baltimore Convention Center, located at 1 W. Pratt St. This year’s theme is “Steadfast and Immovable.” Daily tickets cost $50. For more information, visit www.naacpconvention.org.

July 29

ASK A GARDENER

The Oregon Ridge Nature Center is offering home gardeners a chance to get advice from Master Gardener volunteers on Saturday, July 29 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While the event is free, registration is required. The Oregon Ridge Nature Center is located at 13555 Beaver Dam Rd. in Cockeysville. For more information, call (410) 887-1815 or email info@oregonridgenaturecenter.org.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Some great home remedies for bug bites You know when you have one of those at your local pharmacy or in your kitchen. awkward moments that you think could go Here are some: viral on social media, if only someone had a camera on Oatmeal Put quick-cooking or rolled you? oats into a food processor or Well, recently, my friend coffee grinder to make a fine was outside when a bug powder. Mix that with a small swooped from above and deamount of water to make a scended down her V-neck paste. Apply this paste to your shirt. Faster than you can sting. You can also take a bath say “bugger,” she was stung with oatmeal for all-over itch or bit on not one, but both of relief. her breasts. It then dropped out the bottom of her shirt DEAR PHARMACIST Black Tea and flew away. By Suzy Cohen Put a cold tea bag on the bite What followed was a lawn site for five minutes. The natudance the likes of which her neighbors have never seen. The chaos that rally-occurring “tannins” in tea are what ensued could’ve gone viral if someone had make it bitter, but these tannins also draw the poison out and ease discomfort. Enga smartphone handy. I asked her later if she applied meat ten- lish Breakfast Tea is high in tannins. derizer or ammonia, suggesting some excellent home remedies. She said no, but Vinegar Use white or apple cider vinegar. Mix it was grateful that she had taken some Benadryl at 3 a.m. that morning to help with 50/50 with water and use a cotton ball to insomnia. She suspects (and I agree) that dab the mixture to your sore for instant the inflammation and pain could have been itch relief. much worse. So what do you do if you are stung or Meat tenderizer This contains papain which breaks up bitten by a nasty little critter? There are a host of remedies for insect attacks and poisons from insect venom. Sprinkle about other summer “owwies” that you can find 1/2 teaspoon into a little cup and add some

water, perhaps a teaspoon or two just to make a paste, and dab it directly onto the bite. The sooner after you get stung, the better!

Ammonia Insect venom is usually acidic and ammonia is alkaline, so this neutralizes the poison. It is best applied as soon as possible to the bee or wasp sting. Some people recommend to dab it on straight, others suggest to dilute 50/50 with water.

Ice cubes These are super effective at reducing inflammation and numbing the area. Just wrap a cube in a paper towel and apply for five or 10 minutes. Ice feels nice on bites!

Toothpaste The menthol in toothpaste makes for a nice cooling sensation while reducing swelling. Just apply a thin layer and let it dry. If you’d like to read a longer version of this article with more natural and inexpensive home remedies, sign up for my newsletter at suzycohen.com and I’ll email it to you. This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement. Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.SuzyCohen.com.

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“We are so grateful for the care you gave to my husband while he was at your facility. We especially would like to thank all the nurses and aides who helped care for him. They were all wonderful and couldn’t do enough for him. Thank you all!”

FREE GRIEF WORKSHOP

Chesapeake Life Center in Pasadena is hosting a free workshop for those who have experienced grief and loss. The event is scheduled to take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2 on the Hospice of the Chesapeake’s John & Cathy Belcher Campus, at 90 Ritchie Hwy. in Pasadena. To register or for more details, call 1-888-501-7077 or visit www.chesapeakelifecenter.org.

– Pat, wife of former patient Specializing in Skilled Nursing & Subacute Rehabilitation MARYLAND LOCATIONS Anchorage Healthcare Center 105 Times Square Salisbury, MD Bel Pre Health & Rehab Center 2601 Bel Pre Rd. Silver Spring, MD Blue Point Healthcare Center 2525 West Belvedere Baltimore, MD BridgePark Healthcare Center 4017 Liberty Heights Ave. Baltimore, MD Clinton Healthcare Center 9211 Stuart Lane Clinton, MD Ellicott City Healthcare Center 3000 N. Ridge Rd. Ellicott City, MD

Fayette Health & Rehab Center 1217 W. Fayette St. Baltimore, MD Forestville Healthcare Center 7420 Marlboro Pike Forestville, MD Fort Washington Health Center 12021 Livingston Rd. Ft. Washington, MD Holly Hill Healthcare Center 531 Stevenson Lane Towson, MD Kensington Healthcare Center 3000 McComas Ave. Kensington, MD Laurelwood Healthcare Center 100 Laurel Dr. Elkton, MD

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Say you saw it in the Beacon

Money Law &

CERTIFIED USED CARS Though more expensive than other used cars, certified used cars offer warranties and peace of mind PLAN AHEAD While you’re in good health, set priorities for later years in retirement, such as proximity to family and long-term care savings CONVERTIBLE BONDS Invest in ETFs that specialize in convertible bonds to benefit from both interest and stock appreciation

Biggest estate-planning mistakes to avoid By Andrew McNair There are several common mistakes people can make when planning — or not planning — for what will happen with their estates when they die. The legacy you leave can either simplify the process of dealing with your personal and financial property, or it can be a worrisome burden for those you leave behind. So let’s take a look at what you should discuss well ahead of time with a qualified attorney to help make sure your legacy isn’t lost to Uncle Sam. Here are a few mistakes and how to avoid them: Lack of a see-through provision on a trust. This can prove very costly. For example, consider a couple who has a $1 million Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) for which the beneficiary is a trust. In certain circumstances, a trust may be an appropriate beneficiary for an IRA. However, if there is no see-through provision on the trust, the couple’s estate could potentially owe several hundred thousand dollars in taxes when the IRA is passed to beneficiaries due to the higher tax rates trusts are often subject to. A “see-through trust” refers to a trust

that meets specific legal requirements and serves as the named beneficiary of an IRA. In this scenario, The IRS will “see through” the trust and treat the trust’s beneficiaries as if they were the IRA’s direct beneficiaries. The beneficiaries’ life expectancies will then be used to determine the IRA’s required minimum distributions. Additionally, a see-through provision allows these distributions to be taxed at the individual beneficiary’s tax rate rather than at the trust’s tax rate. Oftentimes, a trust’s tax rate is higher than an individual’s. Therefore, a seethrough provision could help prevent a large tax bill when the owner of the IRA dies, depending on the individual beneficiary’s tax situation. A blank or incomplete Schedule. Schedules are attachments to the trust document that contain important details concerning the trust (most commonly a Schedule A). For example, most trusts have a schedule that is the inventory sheet of the trust, and it typically details what assets you have transferred into the trust. As such, it’s important to make sure all schedules are complete and accurate — it shouldn’t be blank! It is important to con-

firm with your attorney that your trust actually owns the assets you intend for it to own. If it’s not clear what assets the trust owns on the statement, you should be concerned and meet with an attorney who can review your trust to help ensure your wishes are accurately reflected. Failing to easily avoid probate. POD means “payable on death.” TOD stands for “transfer on death.” These designations allow the beneficiary to receive assets without going through probate. Do all of your bank accounts — including all your checking, money market, savings and CD accounts — have POD and TOD instructions on them? They should. Probate can be an expensive process. Laws governing attorney fees for probate are decided by individual states and can vary. For example, consider a savings account with $200,000. In Florida, attorney fees to probate this account could be as high as 3 percent, or $6,000. Having a POD or TOD on this account could help save on these administrative expenses. Having too many bank accounts. The FDIC places a limit of $250,000 per depositor, per bank on the amount that it will insure. As such, you may consider consolidating some of your bank accounts

if you have more accounts than you actually need to ensure you are protected. Otherwise, you might overcomplicate your estate. Leaving no inventory of assets. So where is everything? Even if you have been meticulous about having all the right documents, it does no one any good if your beneficiaries can’t find them after you die. So leave your loved ones a checklist to tell them where they can find your birth certificate, Social Security card, marriage license, pre-nuptial agreement, military records, will, burial instructions, cemetery plot deed or cremation agreement, bank and credit documents, mortgage papers, personal financial documents, and safe deposit box and keys. Your legacy is the last impression you leave behind. The last thing families want to do is leave their children or beneficiaries with 1,000 puzzle pieces scattered all over the floor. A legacy is not a 1,000-piece puzzle scattered to the wind, but a picture worthy to be framed. Rozel Swain contributed to this article. © 2017 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Let’s retire these five myths of retirement By Ali Swofford After decades of paychecks, you might be counting the days before you can leave your job for good. However, your idea of what lies ahead in retirement years may be far different from reality. You need to be prepared for the fact that life as a retiree may not follow the script you wrote in your head. Here are five myths about retirement that catch many retirees by surprise:

Retire-Myth No. 1 Every day is a free day. Waking when you like, drinking coffee in the sunroom, and puttering around the house to your heart’s content may be your retirement dreams. But the truth is that those visions are not what the retirement lifestyle usually turns out to be. Daily calendars quickly fill up with hob-

bies, family events, volunteering and travel. Today’s retirees also face the issue of longevity. They may experience as much time in retirement as they spent in their career, and a long-term life of leisure doesn’t fulfill everyone. As a result, a third phase of life — balancing recreation, giving back to the community and work — is becoming the norm.

Retire-Myth No. 2 Retiring will be a breeze. Actually, some people find the prospect of leaving the workforce scary and disorienting. Retirement is a transition that is a complex and emotional experience for most, with complete shifts in not just your daily routines, but your identity as well. The titles and workplace roles that identify you as a productive person are gone, and selfesteem requires adjustment.

Having a plan for how you will spend your time is one way to minimize the stress of settling into a new schedule. If you don’t plan for it, gliding through a happy retirement is not very likely.

Retire-Myth No. 3 I will retire at the magical age of 65. This artificial benchmark was more accurate when traditional pensions and Social Security were paying full benefits at 65 and lifespans were much shorter. According to the 2015 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, retirement happens earlier than expected for half of retirees. Sixty percent of those leave due to health issues, and others leave because they were let go due to downsizing or had to quit to care for a family member. The earlier you begin planning your re-

tirement, the more prepared you will be should life throw you a curve ball and your retirement dream date change.

Retire-Myth No. 4 Pensions and Social Security will fund my retirement. Today, 401(k)s — not pensions — are the norm. The big difference is where the burden of funding and investment risk lies. 401(k)s are largely funded by the employee and, unlike a pension, there is no guaranteed monthly income at retirement. Social Security benefits were designed to be a supplement to retirement plans and individual investments; not the primary resource.

Retire-Myth No. 5 I will spend less when I retire. A See RETIREMENT MYTHS, page 18

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Certified used cars offer peace of mind By Dee-Ann Durbin A certified pre-owned vehicle costs more than a regular used car, but it can give buyers some peace of mind in an often murky market. Certified pre-owned vehicles are used cars that are backed by an automaker’s guarantee. They’re usually newer cars, coming off two- or three-year leases. Certified pre-owned programs limit the miles the cars can have on them — under 60,000, in many cases — and put the cars

through a rigorous inspection. They come with extended warranties and, sometimes, extra perks like roadside assistance or a satellite radio subscription. “If I want a car that hasn’t been abused, this is one of the best ways to avoid all that guesswork,” said Matt Jones, senior editor of consumer advice for the car shopping site Edmunds.com. Certified pre-owned programs have been growing in popularity as the supply of used cars balloons in the U.S. New vehicle

sales have risen for seven straight years, and as many as a third of those vehicles were leased. That has left automakers with a steady stream of two- or three-year-old vehicles with limited mileage that are ideal for certified pre-owned programs. U.S. certified pre-owned sales grew by 61 percent to 2.6 million between 2010 and 2016, according to Cox Automotive. Still, they only made up a fraction of the 28.7 million used cars sold by franchised and independent dealers last year.

How much more costly?

Certified pre-owned status generally adds 6 to 8 percent to the price of the car, or between $1,000 and $1,500, Jones said. A Ford dealer in Michigan is currently advertising a certified pre-owned 2014 Ford Edge SEL with 22,748 miles on it for $21,943. A CarMax dealer in Maryland is offering a non-certified pre-owned 2014 Edge SEL, with 33,000 miles, for $1,044 less. By comparison, a new 2017 Edge SEL starts at $31,790. For the extra cost, factory-trained mechanics will perform 150-, 160-, or even 180point inspections of the vehicle, which is usually less than five or six years old. Among other things, they’ll check for any outstanding recalls and make those repairs. After that, what you get depends on the

Retirement myths From page 17 common adage is that you will only need 70 to 80 percent of your pre-retirement income during retirement. The truth is that estimating the percentage needed is complex and unique to each individual. Interestingly, according to the Employ-

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Visit PenFed.org/Auto or call 866-367-0231. To receive any advertised product, you must become a member of PenFed Credit Union. 1. Rates and offers current as of July 1, 2017, and are subject to change. Your actual APR will be determined at the time of disbursement and will be based on your application and credit information. Not all applicants will qualify for the lowest rate. Rate also depends on amount borrowed and term. Other restrictions, including vehicle age and mileage, may apply. Vehicle weight restrictions apply. Up to 110% financing is available to qualified members for vehicle purchases. One hundred percent financing available for refinanced vehicles. New vehicles are where you are the original owner and the vehicle is a current (2017) or prior model year (2016). New vehicle payment example: $20,000 loan with rate of 1.49% APR, 36 monthly payments of approximately $568.41. Maximum used car loan advance will be determined by PenFed using a NADA value. Used car loan example: $20,000 loan with a rate of 2.49% APR, 36 monthly payments of approximately $577.14. PenFed does not permit internal refinances of an existing PenFed auto loan. © 2017 Pentagon Federal Credit Union

brand. Automakers may include whatever is left over from the original powertrain warranty — which covers the engine and transmission — along with a shorter bumper-tobumper warranty — which covers the engine as well as interior parts, like the infotainment system or air conditioning. Roadside assistance is often included for at least some period of time. Some manufacturers charge a $50 to $100 deductible for repairs while the car is under warranty; others don’t. Buick offers three months’ worth of OnStar assistance, and lets buyers return the car within three days if they’re not happy. Dealers pay automakers a fee to certify a used vehicle. Kia, for example, gets $450 for every certified pre-owned vehicle sold, said Maria Williams, a senior certified preowned retail support manager with Kia. What’s more, she said, Kia is getting a relationship with buyers who will keep coming back to the dealership for service. In 2016, 47 percent of buyers who returned to the car market after owning a certified pre-owned Kia bought a new Kia, she said, based on data from the consulting firm R.L. Polk. That rate dropped to 33 percent among owners of a non-certified pre-owned used Kia. See USED CARS, page 19

ee Benefit Research Institute, 52 percent of retirees surveyed spent 95 percent or more of their pre-retirement income during retirement. The question becomes, will your nest egg support you through 25 or more years in retirement? © 2017 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Used cars From page 18

What to look for Here are some things to think about if you’re shopping for a certified pre-owned vehicle: Decide if it’s worth it: Experts are split on this one. Jones, who owns a certified preowned vehicle, said a certified pre-owned vehicle is worth the extra cost because you’re getting a higher quality car and the promise of less hassle. Dealers are also more willing to deal on a certified preowned car, he said, because they’ve already paid the automaker to get it certified. But Consumer Reports advises against getting a certified pre-owned vehicle. The magazine said certified pre-owned cars may not be in any better shape than any other low-mileage used car, and buyers are better off pocketing the $1,500 or so and saving it for repairs or putting it toward a new car. Consumer Reports said shoppers considering any used car should have it inspected by a trusted independent mechanic be-

fore they buy. Make sure it’s really certified: Certified pre-owned vehicles can only be sold by a brand’s franchised dealers. Independent dealers may sometimes call a vehicle “certified” or “Carfax certified,” but that doesn’t mean it’s a manufacturer-backed program with the same quality guarantees as an officially certified vehicle. Check the details of certified pre-owned programs on automakers’ web sites or in dealership brochures so you know what you should be getting. And look for the certified pre-owned sticker or logo on the car. Read the fine print: Some certified preowned programs are more generous than others. Kia certified pre-owned buyers, for example, get whatever is left of the car’s 10year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, plus an additional year or 12,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage. Honda certified pre-owned buyers get a similar deal, but the original warranty is for seven years and 100,000 miles. Lexus offers a two-year full warranty with unlimited mileage, a great perk for drivers

BEACON BITS

July 24

MEDICARE CHANGES

The Bykota Senior Center is hosting a presentation by the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to keep community members up to date about what is new about Medicare. The presentation is free and open to the public, and will take place at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 24. The center is located at 611 Central Ave. in Towson. For more information, call the center at (410) 887-3094.

Ongoing

FREE LEGAL SERVICES

Senior Legal Services of the Bar Association of Baltimore City is offering free legal services to low-income seniors throughout Baltimore City. Client intake can be done by phone or walk-ins at the office Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. SLS is located in Suite 631 at 111 N. Calvert St. in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.baltimoreseniorlegalservices.org or call (410) 396-1322.

who drive a lot of miles. Porsche will certify vehicles that are up to 8 years old, as long as they have low enough mileage.

Familiarize yourself with the terms for the brands you’re interested in and see what might work best for you. — AP

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Baltimore County’s Department of Aging provides free casework services to seniors to help them remain in their homes. The Community Outreach Specialist will evaluate and assist seniors apply for benefits ranging from energy assistance to housing subsidies. To find the community outreach specialist in your neighborhood or for more information, call (410) 8872594 or email aginginfo@baltimorecountymd.gov.

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AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Plan now for your later years in retirement By Liz Weston There’s the retirement that looks like the commercials: biking, travel, enjoying the family. And then there’s the one where you can’t get up the stairs anymore. Most of us happily plan for the first, when our health is good and energy high. The second can be hard to contemplate, when health falters and medical crises can change lives in an instant. Yet a focus on just the active part of retirement can shortchange your quality of life once you begin to decline, which is why financial advisers suggest you also look at how you’ll live in that later phase. Here’s what you should consider for that second stage. Certified financial planner Dana Anspach

of Scottsdale, Ariz., doesn’t want her clients to prematurely give up their homes or make other moves that may not suit them. One couple she advised, for example, moved into a particular continuing care community — one that includes independent living, assisted living and nursing home care — in their 80s, but moved back out again a year later because they weren’t allowed to entertain or decorate their apartment the way they wanted. (They used their refunded deposit to buy a condo, and had enough money to pay for in-home care.) Anspach also has heard horror stories of elders who stayed too long in unsafe conditions until health crises propelled them into the hospital — and left their families scrambling to deal with the costs,

BEACON BITS

Aug. 28

LONG-TERM CARE MEETING The Maryland Insurance Administration will hold a public hearing

on specific rate increase requests being made by long-term care insurance carriers in Maryland. The session will take place on Monday, Aug. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the hearing room on the 24th Floor at the Maryland Insurance Administration at 200 St. Paul Pl. in Baltimore. For more information or to register by Aug. 21, email Nancy Muehlberger at longtermcare.mia@maryland.gov.

their care, and what to do with the family home.

While you’re in good health The key, planners say, is to start thinking and talking about how you want to cope when your health begins to fail. “You have so many more options if you plan earlier and set up the trajectory of where you’re wanting to go,” said Danielle Howard, a CFP in Basalt, Colorado. Howard starts with the somewhat easier decisions, such as whom the clients want to make medical and financial decisions for them should they become incapacitated. Then the discussion moves to the harder topics — imagining life when they can’t navigate stairs or drive or handle daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, dressing or bathing themselves. Could they stay in their current home? Would it need to be modified? Who will provide their care, and how will they pay for it? Anspach advises clients who don’t have long-term care insurance, or family members willing to provide care, to save their home equity for such expenses, rather than using it to boost their retirement income. (Home equity can be tapped with lines of credit or reverse mortgages, or by selling the home.) If parents do expect children to help, Anspach said, they need to make sure the kids are on board, and that those kids’ lives are stable enough to provide care if the parents move closer. “You don’t want to move across the country and have them get transferred somewhere else,” Anspach said.

Proximity to family Parents also should consider how they

can make things easier for their caregivers, said Ed Vargo, a CFP in Cleveland. Vargo encouraged his in-laws to move from a home that was 20 minutes away to one that was five minutes away. “That 20 minutes can turn into an hour back and forth, and you may be going multiple times a day,” Vargo said. His mother-in-law, Rose Forrester, understood those dynamics well. Before she retired three years ago, Forrester was a physical therapist who provided in-home care to older patients — and was also a caregiver to her mother, who also lived 20 minutes away. Eventually, Forrester and her husband, Dan, moved her mother into their home, where she lived for three years until her death. Then the couple began to talk about what they should do to make things easier for themselves and their kids in coming years. Neither wanted to leave their home of four decades, but both realized its stairs and layout would be tough to navigate someday. “I could have stayed 10 more years, but in 10 years I knew I wasn’t going to have the energy to move,” Forrester said. The couple moved to a one-level, ranch-style home three years ago, when he was 68 and she was 66. Vargo is now talking with his father about moving closer. The older man initially rejected the idea, but after a few years of discussions has said he’s now considering it. “There’s a tendency for people to tell other people what they should do. That doesn’t really work,” Vargo said. “Have a discussion, share your concerns, but be patient.” © 2017 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Several advantages to convertible bonds About 30 years ago, I joined a small con- er will still receive the coupon interest rate sulting firm that needed to raise capital. We specified at the time of issuance, and would get back the bond’s looked into selling bonds, but face value (the amount paid for a standard issue we would initially) at maturity. have had to pay over 10 percent Generally, the price of conin interest. Our underwriter vertible bonds increases in suggested that, in addition to raising money by issuing comproportion to the increase in mon stock, we could also issue the value of the underlying convertible bonds at a much common stock. lower interest rate. On the other hand, when the It is not unusual for corpovalue of the common stock decreases, the value of the conrations without a long history vertible bond generally takes a of profitability to issue con- THE SAVINGS smaller hit than the stock does vertible bonds, which offer GAME the buyers a reasonable inter- By Elliot Raphaelson because of the interest the est rate, and the future option bonds pay holders each year. In the situation I described earlier, when to convert the bonds into shares of commy company issued convertible bonds, I mon stock. From the buyer’s viewpoint, convertible purchased them because of the coupon rate bonds offer a nominal interest return, as and because I felt the corporation would be well as the potential of an increase in the profitable — which it was. Accordingly, I value of the investment if the company is was able to sell the convertible bonds a few profitable and the value of the common years later at a significant profit. stock increases.

for the last three- and five-year periods. For the last year, the total return was 20.06 percent; for three years 6.06 percent; for five years 9.77 percent. Morningstar identifies other convertible bond ETFs and mutual funds that specialize in convertibles. I do not recommend that you invest in individual convertible bond issues. This is a market for professional investors. Most corporations that issue convertible bonds don’t have excellent bond ratings. This is why you should avoid individual issues, because of the risk, and invest only in wellknown, diversified funds or ETFs. One of the advantages of convertible bond investments is that even if a company runs into financial difficulty and faces liquidation, bondholders have a significant pri-

ority over common stock owners if the company is forced to restructure. Another potential advantage is that if Congress passes legislation that limits or reduces the deductibility of interest for corporations, holders of convertible bonds would benefit as a result. I don’t recommend that investors invest a large percentage of their assets in convertibles. However, for investors looking for modest income returns and the potential for capital gains from increasing common stock prices, this alternative has some advantages. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com. © 2017 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Invest through funds and ETFs How convertible bonds work Generally, when convertible bonds are issued, the conversion price is set at about 25 percent higher than the current value of the common stock. If the corporation does well and the value of the common stock increases in value, the bond holder can convert the bonds to common stock, or sell the bonds in the market, since the value of the bond would have increased. (Convertible bonds trade in the market like other bonds.) Even if the value of the common stock does not go up significantly, the bondhold-

Interest rates for conservative investments are still pretty low. You can purchase mutual funds and ETFs in corporate bonds or high-yield securities, which can yield higher returns than those available for the most conservative investments. But another alternative is funds or ETFs that specialize in convertible bonds. Currently, the interest rates for many of these bonds are between 3.75 and 4.5 percent. The largest ETF in this sector is SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Convertible Securities (CWB). Current yield is 3.1 percent. Morningstar has given this ETF a five-star rating

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Travel Leisure &

Set sail on the Queen Mary 2 with fashionista Iris Apfel. See story on page 25.

Sites to see in Stockholm (via Iceland)

Planning your trip Prior to our trip, we purchased the fiveday Stockholm Pass, a sightseeing package that provides free admission to approximately 60 major attractions, museums and tours. The pass is also available for shorter visits, with one, two, and three-

day versions. The five-day adult pass cost us about $135 each, but it periodically goes on sale at 10 percent off. If you intend to see a large number of sites, the city pass is a great value. We enjoyed the pass’s inclusion of unlimited hopping on and off the 24 stops of the sightseeing bus each day. The pass can also be purchased in-person in Stockholm. For more information, visit www.stockholmpass.com. Our hotel was also a major highlight on the trip. The Hilton Slussen really enhanced our visit. Located on the island of Sodermalm, the Hilton is situated directly across from Old Town (Gamla Stan) — providing dramatic day and night views of the city’s beautiful medieval architecture and the mighty city hall (the Stadshuset) on the island of Kungsholmen. While we’re on the subject, touring Stadshuset was also a treat. This striking brick building with its massive tower and internal courtyards is a landmark that contributes to Stockholm’s impressive skyline. English language tours were frequent and very detailed. The tour included the golden hall, with its beautiful gold and marble mosaics, the Italian style blue hall — site of annual Nobel prize banquets and festivities, a dramatic fresco painting of the lake view (“The City on the Water”) which faces windows opening to the actual lake view, and the council meeting chamber.

PHOTO BY CDRIM | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

By Saul Schwartz Last fall, Iceland-based Wow Airlines initiated its new route from BWI to Stockholm, Sweden, through Reykjavik, Iceland. With fares beginning at just over $200 each way, I declared to my wife, “Wow! How can we pass this up?” At such low fares, we did have to pay extra for all drinks, food and entertainment in flight. While fares are somewhat higher now, the Wow stopover option allows for a stay of several days in Iceland before continuing on to Stockholm without an additional fee. It wasn’t our first time flying Wow. When they offered flights from BWI to Iceland in fall 2015, we jumped on promotional airfares at the time of $99 each way. We quickly became fans of the quirky budget carrier with its new fleet of purple, medium-sized aircraft, staffed by friendly and perky purple-clad crew. The aircraft and its comfortable seats are marked by silly sayings like “cool kids sit in the back.” Here are our impressions of Stockholm, and suggestions for making your trip a success.

In Stockholm’s bustling square (Stortorget), the city’s oldest, the popular Kaffekoppen café sits across from the Nobel Museum. Eating outside at cafés like this offers an opportunity for people-watching and listening to live street music.

PHOTO BY ESTCA | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Stockholm’s Drottningholm Palace, summer home for royalty, is often compared to France’s Versailles.

We were lucky that the Hilton Slussen’s location provided such easy access to this and many other memorable sites by public transportation and by foot. By European standards, the hotel’s rooms are very decently sized. Our daily rate included an extensive breakfast buffet with hot and cold offerings, as well as evening appetizers in the executive lounge. For more information on our hotel, visit www.hilton.com/stockholm. If you’re looking for a good guidebook to help your plan out your days, I recommend the Lonely Planet Pocket Stockholm. We took it everywhere. The neighborhood-byneighborhood layout focused on top sights, and the maps were easy to follow.

Sites not to miss Changing of the guard at the Royal Palace (Kunglia Slottet). With over 600 rooms, the Royal Palace dominates Old Town. It is the world’s largest royal castle still used as a home to royalty and as a working government building. Most days, if you’re at the outer courtyard at 12:15 p.m., you can view the elaborate changing of the guard ritual. This is a magnificent and dramatic ceremony, full of pomp and circumstance. We also toured several portions of the palace open to the public, including the

royal chapel and the royal apartments. Boat tours. Stockholm covers 14 islands, with bridges everywhere. Lake Malaren in the West gives way to the Baltic Sea in the East. For this reason, Stockholm is often called “the Venice of the north.” We really enjoyed getting on the water to fully experience the area. Taking the three-hour boat tour to the Archipelago provided us with a scenic ride as we wandered among thousands of rocky islands. Most of the islands are uninhabited, with forests and fields of wild flowers. But the inhabited islands are dotted with attractive holiday cottages and boats of various sizes. Drottningholm Palace (Slott). We traveled one hour by boat to the island of Lovon, where the summer residence for generations of Swedish royalty families sits. Although the 17th century palace was closed for a royal function, we strolled for several hours in the vast geometrical garden parks, which are often compared to those at Versailles. The gardens, located behind the striking Renaissance-style palace, contain sculptures and immaculately manicured greenery. We also enjoyed lunch on the palace grounds at a café. Eating lunch al fresco at KaffekopSee STOCKHOLM, page 24

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

What consumer rights do travelers have? Chances are your summer trip it will go as in what looks like a good deal but keep planned. But in case of trouble, you need to searching a better deal for 24 hours without a know the rights you have as a cancellation penalty. And airtraveler. lines have to display all-up Unfortunately, nothing is a prices, including fees and taxes, true “right” unless it is (1) in in their ads and websites. your contract, (2) guaranteed Hotels. State “innkeepers” by law, or (3) an errant supplilaws generally require that er faces some financial consehotels maintain safe and sequence if it fails to live up to cure premises and provide its obligation. And, by that some form of secure storage measure, your true rights as a for valuable items. traveler are slim indeed. When a hotel is oversold or Ultimately, what you pay and TRAVEL TIPS otherwise can’t honor a reserwhat you get are determined by By Ed Perkins vation, traditional industry a contract. Most travel contracts are “contracts of adhesion” — offered as “take it or leave it,” giving you no chance to negotiate terms. And the fine print you seldom see gives suppliers lots of wiggle room in delivering what they supposedly promise. But reservations, guarantees and such, are also enforceable contracts. If you have a money problem with a supplier, your recourse depends, first and foremost, on the terms of the contract and contract law. Federal rules require your credit card issuer to refund your charge whenever a supplier fails to deliver the product or service you charged. That works well in cases of outright failure to deliver or perform. But chargeback requests based on poor service or disappointment typically don’t go very far. Beyond contract law and credit card regulations, a few rights are conferred by laws and regulations specific to travel: Airlines. Air travelers have by far the most government-mandated rights, which have been extremely well publicized in recent months. If an airline bumps you due to overbooking, you’re due a cash payment up to $1,300 in addition to completing your trip. If an airline loses or damages your baggage, it owes you up to $3,500 for a domestic flight, or around $1,500 on most international flights. If your flight is delayed on the tarmac more than three hours without offering you to get off (in most cases), the airline pays a fine. When you shop for an airfare, you can lock

practice is to “walk” you to a different hotel that is “equal or better,” and to pick up the tab for your first night. But this generally isn’t a legal requirement, and it’s often ignored. Cruise Passengers. Cruise travelers’ rights, based on maritime law, are scant. However, a court decision this year gave consumers an important victory: Cruise lines can’t call ship medical personnel “independent contractors,” so you can sue Cruise lines for malpractice. Other than that, maritime laws strongly favor the cruise line over you. Cruise lines can alter itineraries and ports without your automatic right of a refund. When a line does offer a “refund,” it is often in the form of a voucher or future discount, not cash. Even when you suffer monetary damage, cruise contracts make it difficult to sue them. Tour Participants. Typical tour contracts allow operators to make some changes without your right to an automatic refund. The most troublesome is the provision that the operator can switch you from a hotel promised in the brochure to a different “equal or better” hotel. And the tour operator’s idea of “equal” may not jibe with yours. Car Renters. If a rental company can’t provide a car you’ve reserved, industry lore says it should arrange a car with some other company and pay the difference, if any. But the legal and industry backing for that “promise” is weak, and I’ve often seen it ignored. Overall. The majority of travel suppliers

no doubt try to do as they’ve promised. But except in limited airline cases, they often face no consequence — or owe you any cash — when they fail to deliver. Be warned.

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Stockholm From page 22 pen. Speaking of lunch, set in the heart of the old town’s main and oldest square (Stortorget), we twice enjoyed lunch at Kaffekoppen, a café on the outside terrace across from the Nobel Museum. The lunch portions were large, fresh, tasty and reasonably priced. As an added bonus, the terrace is perfect for people-watching, and live street music played in the background. The café is set in a 15th century building painted a bright red. The building’s exterior walls feature 82 white stones honoring the members of the Swedish nobility and clergy who were killed by the Danish King Christian II in the square in November 1520. For more information on the café, visit www.cafekoppen.se. Djurgarden. Once a royal hunting ground, this island connects to the center city by bridge. The setting is a green parklike oasis — like a smaller version of New York’s Central Park. To get around more easily, we rented three-speed bikes through Stockholm City Bikes at a stand located just behind the ABBA Museum (yes, a museum dedicated to the singing group). The rental was inexpensive; about $17 for a three-day card. We wandered around quiet trails and roads, passing by herons, goats, gardens, various bodies of water and a variety of museums.

Like Washington D.C., Stockholm is a city of museums, mainly situated at the entrance of Djurgarden. Daily English-language tours are informative and enlightening. Our favorites were the Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet), which was literally built around a massive salvaged ship. The ship (basically Sweden’s Titanic) had sunk in Stockholm harbor within minutes of setting sail on its maiden voyage in the 17th century. Visiting the ABBA Museum was simply pure fun. It was an entertaining tribute to the best known Swedish rock group, complete with costume displays and videos. The Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) was mostly enjoyable for the building itself, design as an enormous Nordic castle with a massive indoor space. We also learned how the cultural phenomenon that has come to be known as “all things Swedish” was initiated as the passion of one man, founder of the Nordic Museum Artur Hazelius. The photography museum (Fotografiska) in Sodermalm is housed in a converted customs hall. It showcases four different exhibits, including one of celebrities shot by Canadian singer Bryan Adams. The museum is open late into the evening, as its top level holds a lively bar and café where locals like to party the night away. The Nobel Museum was also worth visiting. It focuses on the history of past Nobel Prize recipients and their discoveries, as well as on Alfred Nobel, whose wealth came from his discovery of dyna-

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AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

mite. The café there includes chairs signed by Nobel awardees, including Presidents Clinton and Obama. Cathedrals. In the old town, right next to the Royal Palace, stands the 13th century gothic cathedral Strorkyrkan. It contains dramatic sculptures, medieval paintings, high ceilings with bells, and the pews that have long been used for royal weddings and coronations. We were particularly impressed with the life-size wood sculpture of St. George and the Dragon, created to honor victory over the Danes in the late 1400s. Lutheran services are open to the public on Sundays. On the nearby island of Riddarholmen, the interior of the 13th century Riddarholmen Church is more in the nature of a cemetery for royals. The church contains the majestic underground crypts of Sweden’s kings, queens and their families. The Ice Bar. Just as you have to visit the Blue Lagoon while in Reykjavik, Iceland, a trip to the Ice Bar in Stockholm is a must. The Ice Bar is located within the Nordic C Hotel, in the city center. Created by the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden, the Ice Bar is a creation made entirely from ice, containing ice etchings and sculptures of Nordic creatures. It’s perfect for photo ops. Visitors can borrow parkas with hoods and thick gloves to keep warm while inside the bar. Admission includes one drink in a shot glass made of ice! The 45-minute experience was a little tacky, but also quite cool. Walking tour of the old town. Starting from the tourist center, the daily English-language tour of Old Town guided us along its charming cobblestone streets. The narrow streets wind along their 14th century lines. One lane (Marten Trotzigs Grand) is less than a meter wide! For the history buff, the guide told us stories of Stockholm’s beginnings. She showed us Viking ruins from an early set-

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tlement that are part of a building foundation, as well as sites from Danish and Germanic influences.

Things we missed Unfortunately, as with any trip, you can’t see everything in one visit. Several buildings were not open to touring during our stay. We visited the grounds of the Great Synagogue on a small street near city center. It’s an impressive building, whose exterior features a large menorah, a holocaust memorial plaque, and a dramatic sculpture of the lifting of the Torah. The synagogue is only open to the public for Shabbat services on Friday evening and Saturday morning. While Stockholm has the largest Jewish population in Sweden, there are only about 20,000 Jews in the whole country. The synagogue is worth a visit. Not far from the old town, we also repeatedly passed by the large Swedish Parliament Buildings (Riksdagshuset), but were not able to tour because the buildings were only open for a short period on one weekend day that we were there. Another missed opportunity for us. Overall, Stockholm is a wonderful destination. The fall weather was surprisingly pleasant during our trip. Stockholm is one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals. We had a tremendous adventure. In one week, we covered almost all of the major sites — and we hope to be back for more.

Facts to know The currency is easy to convert, with ten Swedish krona being worth approximately one U.S. dollar. Though roads seemed well maintained, and driving is on the right side of the road, we saw no need for a car rental since we did not venture outside of greater Stockholm. We were too busy inside the city limits. See STOCKHOLM, page 25

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Fashionista Iris Apfel hosts Queen Mary 2

Stockholm From page 24 The central train and bus station, aptlynamed Centralstationen, is indeed in the city center, and connections are easy to a vast public transportation system, including trams, buses and the metro system — called Tunnelbana. We navigated the subway and buses without difficulty. Although signage in English is limited, English-speaking transportation workers did not hesitate to direct us to the correct line when asked. In fact, throughout the week we found local Swedes quite willing to talk to us in English. Current rates on Wow Airlines are still low during the summer and early fall. Flights departing from BWI begin at $219.99 one way July through October, though they do bump up later in the season, with higher rates of $449.99 beginning in November. For more information about the airline, visit www.wowair.com. By comparison, Iceland Air has flights from Reagan National Airport in Washington that start at $468 each way in early August.

PHOTO BY RON ADAR

By Beth J. Harpaz The Queen Mary 2 ship is offering a fashion-themed trans-Atlantic crossing with a celebrity guest who’s practically fashion royalty herself: 95-year-old Iris Apfel. The inimitable Apfel is known for her irreverent style mixing haute couture with oversized costume jewelry and her trademark large round glasses. She’s been the subject of museum exhibits and a documentary film, “Iris,” that will be screened during the trip. The trans-Atlantic trip departs Southampton, England, on Aug. 31 and arrives in New York on Sept. 7 in time for New York Fashion Week. Apfel will host a Q-and-A onboard, but don’t expect any style tips. “Everybody should find her own way,” she said in a phone interview from her winter home in Palm Beach, Florida. “I’m a great one for individuality. I don’t like trends. “If you get to learn who you are and what you look like and what you can handle, you’ll know what to do.” The trip will also include runway shows and other guests from the world of fashion, including designer Julien Macdonald, industry consultant Gail Sackloff, and fashion historian Colin McDowell, along with actual models. Apfel’s favorite contemporary designers include Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo and Naeem Khan, but she’s not looking to add to her closets. “I have so much, I don’t go looking,” she said. “I’m in the process of deaccessioning and helping them build a fabulous fashion collection at the Peabody Essex Museum,” which is located in Salem, Mass. Apfel began donating pieces to the museum after it hosted an exhibit about her several years ago.

What’s her secret for a long and happy life? “I have no secrets, I have no advice, except to love life and not give into yourself,” she said. “At a certain age, you have to push a bit, to be honest. “Unless you have pneumonia or a broken hip and you can’t push yourself, you really have to. Once you do, you’ll find there’s a lot out there, and you won’t think of yourself. “Get out there and help somebody. There are so many people that need a hand. Life is there and it’s wonderful, and it doesn’t last too long, so you might as well enjoy.” Options for travel during Fashion Week: For 7 nights, from Aug. 31 through Sept. 7, fares start at $999 per person. For an additional 2 nights, with the trip beginning in Hamburg, Germany on Aug. 29, fares start at $2,107 per person. Visit http://bit.ly/QueenMary2FashionWeek. —AP

Irreverent fashion icon Iris Apfel, 95, will host Q and A sessions on a trans-Atlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2 late this summer.

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Style Arts &

Bruce McKaig recently launched a bartering network for artists. See story on page 29.

Electric and eclectic Joseph now at Toby’s seen as a clear sign that he is their father’s favorite. Joseph also has dreams of future greatness that he unwisely shares with his family. One of them suggests that his family will one day all bow down to him. In a jealous rage, the brothers throw him into a pit, intending to leave him to die in the desert. Then, when a caravan passes by, they decide instead to sell him to the merchants, who take him to Egypt. In the events that follow, Joseph is tested again and again, until ultimately he be-

PHOTO BY JERI TIDWELL PHOTOGRAPHY

By Rebekah Alcalde From Elvis-inspired rock and roll, to Calypso music, to the Charleston dance of the 1920s, there is something for just about everyone in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, now playing at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Md. The classic musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice has been entertaining audiences for nearly 50 years. Joseph began as a short cantata the pair wrote for a parochial school when Webber and Rice were in their 20s. But after their later musical Jesus Christ Superstar became a smash hit in the 1970s, a more-fully developed version of Joseph took off as well. It’s been a staple in musical theater ever since — with its family-friendly storyline, infectious tunes and lyrics, and exaggerated comedy. Joseph follows the major points of the biblical story in Genesis, which nearly everyone recalls. Joseph is a young dreamer and shepherd, whose 11 brothers are jealous of him. Most of their ire comes from the fact that their father, Jacob, seems to love Joseph best. The “coat of many colors” that Jacob gives to Joseph is

See JOSEPH, page 28

Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s production of

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will feature five different women in the focal role of Narrator over the production run. The unusual casting is the way Toby Orenstein, the theatre’s founder, has chosen to honor women who have played important roles in the city of Columbia and in her theatrical school. Narrators, left to right, in the top row are Coby Kay Callahan, Cathy Mundy and Janine Sunday. Orenstein is at the bottom center of the photo between MaryKate Brouillet and Caroline Bowman.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

Area festivals show films under the stars By Carol Sorgen Outdoor film festivals are a growing tradition in Baltimore. Join your friends and neighbors, bring a lawn chair or blanket, and settle in to enjoy an old favorite or a movie youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never seen before. Cinema al Fresco Little Italy Little Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual film festival is celebrating its 18th anniversary. Flicks are shown Fridays at 7 p.m. through August 25. Bring your own refreshments, or purchase food and beverages from some of the neighborhood restaurants. Movies are shown on the outside wall of Ciao Bella Restaurant, 236 S. High St. The event is sponsored by the Little Italy Restaurant Association. Live music begins at 7 p.m., and the

movie starts at 9 p.m. (except for Aug. 25, which begins at 8:30 p.m.). Free popcorn is provided. The line-up for the rest of the summer includes The Godfather, The Godfather II, Under the Tuscan Sun, Rocky, Oceanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eleven (the 1960 version) and, of course, the festival favorite: Cinema Paradiso. For more information, visit http://www.promotioncenterforlittleitaly.org/film-fest.html or email info@LittleItalyMD.com. Films on the Pier Fellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Point New release movies are shown on a large screen at the end of Broadway Pier in Fellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Point on Wednesday evenings in July and August, beginning at 8:45 p.m. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/FilmsOnThePier or call (410) 563-9011.

Flicks from the Hill American Visionar y Art Museum, Federal Hill Visit the American Visionary Art Museum at 800 Key Highway on Thursday evenings in July and August, where films will be shown on a 30-foot wide screen at the Hughes Family Outdoor Theater. From 5 to 9 p.m. on movie nights, you can visit the museum for free. Screenings begin at 9 p.m. Special events are scheduled throughout the summer to coincide with film showings, including a premiere party and a Food Truck Night. Upcoming showings include The Hundred-Foot Journey, Big, Julie and Julia, The Nutty Professor, Moonstruck, and E.T. For more information, visit http:// avam.org/news-and-events/events/flicks-

from-the-hill.shtml or call (410) 244-1900. Pics in the Park Center Plaza, Downtown The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore hosts Pics in the Park on select Saturdays throughout the summer on the lawn of Center Plaza at North Charles and Fayette Sts. Films begin at sunset. The remainder of the summer schedule includes Elf on July 29; La La Land on Aug. 26; and Beetlejuice on September 30. Parking is available in the garage under the Plaza or along Liberty Street. For more information, visit www.godowntownbaltimore.com or call (410) 244-1030. Reel B.A.D. Outdoor Film Nights Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment

Country music

sical leanings, the music industry itself has changed through the years. Albums became tapes, which became CDs. And with the advent of mobile technology, music lovers are just as likely to pirate music online as they are to pay for it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The industry in general is losing money,â&#x20AC;? said Brine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think twice about stealing music off the Internet. It hurts the small artists like myself. I used to make money on my songsâ&#x20AC;Ś.Now Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m lucky if I see anything.â&#x20AC;? While Brine doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t foresee that changing, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also not about to give up on his lifelong work. Today, he and the Mark Brine Band perform at such local venues as Bakers Tavern in Middle River, the Filling Station in Sparks, and Loafers Sports Bar & Grill in Aberdeen. He also performs solo at area senior centers. He has also published two semi-autographical novels and two childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books, all with a musical theme (available on Amazon Books). But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s his music that continues to be both his livelihood and his passion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Music is my thing,â&#x20AC;? he said. Brine is sure to earn more fans from his July 9 appearance on the season 12 opening episode of public televisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Song of the Mountains.â&#x20AC;? That award-winning series

(which airs on MPT on Sunday mornings at 4 a.m.) showcases the music, musicians, musical heritage and culture of the South-

ern Appalachians. Though the episode is not yet available online, an entire Mark Brine concert can be heard at bit.ly/MarkBrine.

From page 1 young man who I think has a great future.â&#x20AC;? An album with the same name as the single came out several years later, followed by American Bleak House, a politically-tinged collection of folk-blues songs. Brine has continued to release songs and albums, including Fortunes: The Best of Mark Brine. His 2016 CD Folkabilly Bluezgrass earned the following praise in Americana Gazette Review: â&#x20AC;&#x153;If Jimmie Rogers and Hank Williams were cloned into one artist, I would have to say that Brine is it! His music is clever and really hits that oldtimey Country bones a lot of us have that tend to stay hidden until we get a treat like this CD.â&#x20AC;? Brine has been nominated for two Grammy awards, and in 2005, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Traditional Country Music Association. He returned to Nashville for a time, but moved back to Maryland two years ago so that he and his wife could be closer to their grandchildren.

Tough to make a living Though Brine has stayed true to his mu-

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Joseph From page 26 comes the Egyptian Pharoah’s second-incommand, fulfilling his dream.

A comedic take on the story The musical takes this dramatic subject matter and, while more or less faithfully telling the story, finds much inherent (and often goofy) comedy in it. For example, when the sons break the news to their grieving father of Joseph’s apparent death, the musical number “One More Angel in Heaven” has audience members clutching their sides in laughter. It’s sung as a Western country music ballad, with the sons sporting cowboy hats and singing with a twang. In this way throughout the show, different musical styles are utilized for each number, often for comedic effect. When the land is struck by famine and excessive heat, the starving brothers sing the crowdfavorite number “Those Canaan Days,” presented as a hilarious parody of French ballads (yes, complete with berets and French accents).

Great casting with a twist Much of Joseph is told by a character called the Narrator, traditionally played by a female singer. She explains the back story, introduces the characters, and even interacts with the other characters. Her soaring vocals

AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

serve as the backbone and main female voice of the show. For this production, Toby’s uses a revolving set of five Narrators, each of whom plays the part for a few weeks. The theatre’s founder and the musical’s co-director, Toby Orenstein, introduced this unique feature to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city of Columbia and the 45th anniversary of her school, the Columbia Center for the Theatrical Arts. “Each woman has a special connection to Columbia, Toby’s, and/or CCTA,” explained Orenstein. As a result, “it will be a brand-new show every few weeks,” she said. Our narrator was played beautifully by Janine Sunday, a 20-year veteran local actress and four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee. She opened the show with gusto, first with the “Prologue,” closely followed by the rousing “Jacob and Sons,” which introduces the characters. The rest of the cast is equally strong, led by a knockout performance by Wood Van Meter as Joseph. He is superb in his portrayal of the naïve dreamer, and his pure tenor voice is sweet. The show’s only dramatic song, “Close Every Door,” which Joseph sings while in prison, is the perfect showcase for his strong vocals. The number is particularly moving. Other notable roles are filled by Andrew Horn as Jacob, Russell Sunday as hilarious lead brother Reuben, David Bosley Reynolds as the Egyptian “millionaire”

Potiphar, Nia Savoy as Potiphar’s seductive wife, and David Jennings as an Elvis Presley-like Pharaoh. (His “Song of the King” is, you guessed it, sung like an Elvis impersonator.) There is also a funny and memorable scene with David James as the Butler and Jeffrey Shankle as the Baker, whose characters have both been imprisoned with Joseph. Spoiler alert: One of them doesn’t make it out alive. Also, a huge round of applause for the band of singing and dancing brothers, and for the all-female ensemble that provides excellent back-up vocals, as well as dancing and acting. Like all great productions, there are a few minor setbacks. Our show suffered a few audio issues during the performance, with the microphones slightly cutting out or breaking briefly. The actors seemed aware of the issue and compensated with louder, clearer vocals. Presumably the glitch has since been fixed. The rest of the production went off without a hitch. Joseph is a positively electric show, and we’re not just talking about the 500-plus lighting cues issued by the lighting designer that bring the intimate stage to life.

If you go Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues through Sunday, Aug. 27 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, located at 5900 Symphony Woods Rd. in Columbia.

Film festival From page 27 District This festival is just in its second year, but already proving to be a favorite among moviegoers. The series showcases Baltimorebased art and filmmaking along with feature films. Beer, wine and snacks are available from vendors in the Bromo District. The films are shown at 200 W. Lexington St. at Park Ave. on the third Tuesday of the month through September. The events take place from 7 to 11 p.m. and also feature live

The show runs seven days a week, with evening and matinee performances. Doors open at 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, for dinner prior to the evening performances, which begin at 8 p.m. For Sunday evening performances, which begin at 7 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m. for dinner. On Wednesdays and Sundays, there are matinee performances, which open for brunch at 10:30 a.m., with shows beginning at 12:30 p.m. Reservations are required. Ticket prices range from $43.50 (for children under 12) to $62, depending on the performance. Ticket prices include an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner or brunch, tea and coffee. Specialty drinks — like this show’s exotic mango and vodka smoothie called the Calypso — and specialty desserts are priced separately. While not five-star cuisine, Toby’s buffetstyle meals offer something for everyone. Ours featured prime rib, pork ribs, roast potatoes, cocktail shrimp, a variety of vegetables and salads, and more. Cake and unlimited ice cream are included for dessert. You can also arrange to have coffee or alcohol brought to you during intermission. Speaking of which, the show’s actors also function as waiters, and they depend on your tips for much of their pay, so be sure to tip generously. For more information or to reserve tickets, call (410) 730-8311 or visit www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.

music. For more information, visit www.bromodistrict.org or call (410) 732-6605. Free Outdoor Films Mount Vernon Conservancy In July and August, free outdoor films are being sponsored by the Mount Vernon Conservancy. Shown in Mount Vernon Place’s West Square, the screenings begin at 8:30 p.m. All films are popular titles, including Dreamgirls on July 26 and Arrival on Aug. 30. For a schedule of other events, visit www.mvpconservancy.org or call (410) 962-5070.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

Launching a bartering network for artists By Carol Sorgen Bruce McKaig first became interested in cashless, or barter, economies when he was living in a small village in Guatemala. He noticed that the residents there fared better by trading with each other to meet their needs. Not only that, but he observed that the community thrived because, as he put it, “Bartering fosters personal interaction and strives to find a common ground where all parties are satisfied.” McKaig, who is in his mid-50s, lives in Baltimore City’s Artists’ Housing Co-Operative. He said the co-op living experience has profoundly influenced him, and made him want to translate it to Baltimore’s artistic community. The result is Trade4Art — a Baltimorebased barter network that connects artists with skilled workers, allowing them to directly exchange their skills, goods or services without cash and free of additional fees. Trade4Art will have its public launch at this year’s Artscape, a free annual arts festival that runs from July 21 to 23. McKaig noted that other barter networks exist, both locally and nationally — such as the Barter Network, Trade Now and the Baltimore Gift Economy. “Most of us already engage in some sort of barter exchanges,” McKaig added, “sometimes helping family, neighbors or

colleagues not for cash, but for help, goods or services in return.”

Photographer and economist McKaig is not only a photographer, but also an economist and social justice advocate. His concept for Trade4Art earned him a Crusade for Art Engagement grant, which is designed to provide funding for unique projects that cultivate a demand for art and create opportunity to collect it. He also was named a semi-finalist for the Sondheim Artscape Prize, which is held in conjunction with Artscape’s juried exhibition and produced with the Walters Art Museum and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). “Trade4Art is an accessible, equitable and sustainable way for members of the community to use their skills to meet their own needs,” said McKaig. The way Trade4art works is simple and straightforward, he said. The Trade4art website, www.trade4art.info, provides a platform for connecting artists, artisans, skilled workers and tradespeople. Artists and workers have the opportunity to negotiate directly with each other to swap needed services and items. Participants are not obligated in any way to accept the trade offers they receive. Anyone eligible can participate by contacting

Trade4Art through its website. Currently, the website offers fine art in the form of paintings and photography. Services include welding, personal training, home repairs, carpentry, faux finishing and house painting. “We no longer have an economy where each successive generation fares better than the last,” said McKaig, explaining why he sees the need for Trade4Art (as well as bartering projects in general). “For us to fare better, we must be innovative, creative and community-minded. Furthermore, treating people like numbers doesn’t work. Bartering succeeds because individuals achieve their goals by connecting with other individuals.”

Awards focus on labor and art Trade4Art is not McKaig’s only effort in advocating for the arts. He received a 2017 Mayor’s Individual Artist Award from the Creative Baltimore Fund to pursue his work with art and labor practices. He also was awarded an Equal Justice Residency at the

Santa Fe Art Institute, where he will bring together arts workers (such as installers, security guards and museum custodians) with fine artists and policy makers to explore innovative models for funding the arts. “Arts advocacy is more critical than ever, given the current political and economic climate,” said McKaig. “Just when we are at our most divided is exactly when we need the arts to unite us. We must do all that we can to expand — not restrict — access to the arts.” Trade4Art officially launches at an opening reception on Thursday, July 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at MICA, in the Decker and Meyerhoff Galleries of the Fox Building at 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave. McKaig will be on hand to discuss the project and answer questions at the reception, and also on Friday, July 21, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, July 22, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, July 23, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The information will remain on display at MICA through Aug. 6. To learn more, see www.trade4art.info.

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AUGUST 2017 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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Crossword Puzzle Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus Unpretentious 1

40 45

32 35

Jumble answers on p. 28.

Scrabble answers on p. 28.

By By Stephen Stephen Sherr Sherr

47 51

57 60

Across 1. Go off script 6.A It is optional in some ‘net addresses 9. Mix of purple and green 14. “___ me alone!” 15. Triumphant shout 16. Changes salmon to lox 17. Still in flux 18. Lisa Simpson’s instrument 19. Prepare to use the toothpaste 20. Over 25 of its grads have won Nobel Prizes 21. Hunt flies 23. ___ Believer (first #1 hit of 1967) 24. Word which can be formed from the four corners of a weather vane 26. Blood grouping system 27. Sleazy 31. Protection from expulsion, on Survivor 32. ___ a Drag (second #1 hit of 1967) 34. 70’s sitcom planet 35. Be deep in thought 37. Bridal shower offering 38. Correctly identified the killer, weapon, and room 39. Golden Globes classification 41. Charged particle 42. Half donkey/half horse 44. Went from Marathon to Athens 45. Reach the moon 47. Finalized an e-mail message 48. Sixth word of the Gettysburg Address 49. Christmas tree sparkles 51. Lavish affection on 54. Muscle/bone connector 56. Old name for a wildebeest 57. Half a congressional term 58. Back at sea 59. Latvia’s largest city 61. ___-Bama Slama (“Fruit punch with a Southern kick”) 62. Car freshener option 65. Cribbage scorekeeper 66. Laundry grouping 68. Prop for juggling in a dark room 69. Shorten (as pants) 70. Rescue a damsel from train tracks 71. Shopping ___

61 67

72. Source of ancestry.com’s testing 73. Six of one; half dozen of the ___ Down 1. High school reunion attendees 2. “Justice delayed is justice ___” 3. One with excellent dating prospects 4. It’s in forgive, but not forget 5. Final Jeopardy figures 6. Plant also knows as “Japanese horseradish” 7. Exclamation of surprise 8. Madame Tussauds’ medium 9. The worst type of people 10. Like a Chinese calendar 11. Some of a circle 12. The Mad Hatter’s favorite drink 13. Psychic’s ability 22. Univ. in a not-so-sleepy NC town 23. “Ability ___ little account without opportunity” (Lucille Ball) 25. Squalid district 28. Unpretentious (and where this puzzle’s theme answers all go) 29. Item on an FDA food label 30. Fashion line founded by Donna Karan 33. Loud, unpleasant noise 36. Paragon of morality 39. “Doggone it!” 40. Furious anger 41. Hotel, out in the country 43. Nickname for archaeologist Henry Walton Jones Jr. 46. It isn’t “is not” 47. Slow, lazy person 50. Puzzling situation 52. Post-1927 film, most likely 53. Tool for imperfect crossword solvers 55. Do The Charleston 60. Song from An American Tail about friendship 62. States, streets, or saints (stunted) 63. Police officer 64. Overthrow first base 65. Third degree 67. Kitchen pest

Answers on page 28.

BALTIMORE BEACON — AUGUST 2017

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

Caregivers “CARE YOU CAN TRUST AND AFFORD.” Loving, experienced caregiver for companionship, medication reminders, hygiene care, meal preparation, housekeeping, errands, Dr. appointments. Full/part-time, flat rate for day or live-in care. One week free. Call 301-490-1146.

For Sale 2-DOOR ATRIUM PATIO DOORS, 15 windows in each. Selling two sets. 1 new, 6ft. and 1 like new, 5ft. 410-960-4865 after 2 p.m.

Say you saw it in the Beacon

For Sale NEW MASTER ATTIC ROOF Mount Ventilator Fan, 1600 sq. ft. w/ Auto Thermostat. 1000 CFM’s. 410-960-4865 after 2 p.m. NORDIC TRACK ELIPTICAL exercise unit. Model SE9i w/ internet-capable iFit console. 2 year warranty. Condition like NEW. Barely used due to medical conditions. Paid $1,500, asking $900. Serious inquiries only 410-9604865 after 2 p.m. 2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed. Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures if desired. Call Steve 410-913-1653.

Home/Handyman Services SANFORD & SON JUNK REMOVAL. Trash + Junk removal, house & estate cleanouts, garage + basement cleanouts. Demolition – Shed, deck fence + pool removal. Licensed + insured. Free estimates over the phone. Call 7 days a week, 7 am to 7 pm. 410-746-5090.

Wanted CASH FOR ESTATES: jewelry to furniture, rugs, tribal/cultural items, large range of items considered. Buy-out/cleanup. Call Gary, 301520-0755. FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a serious capable buyer. I am very well educated [law degree] knowledgeable [over 40 years in the antique business] and have the finances and wherewithal to handle virtually any situation. If you have a special item, collection or important estate I would like to hear from you. I pay great prices for great things in all categories from oriental rugs to Tiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful, I am interested. No phony promises or messy consignments. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, 301-279-8834. Thank you.

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 5th of each month. Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards. Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word. Business Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing business enterprise. Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word. Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad. Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Baltimore Classified Dept. P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227 Wanted

Wanted

CASH FOR JEWELRY: gold, silver, costume, diamonds, watches, scrap gold, coins. Call Gary, 301-520-0755.

COLLECTOR BUYING MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, weapons, knives, swords, bayonets, web gear, uniforms, etc. from all wars and countries. Also Lionel Toy Trains, and coin operated machines. Will pay top prices for my personal collection. Discreet consultations. Call Fred, 301-910-0783.

MONEY, TIME TO SELL! Make the right choice. Call Greg, 717-658-7954. We buy jewelry, coins, silver, antiques, watches, gold, art, paper money, toys, bottles, etc. No middleman, no fees, no overhead means more money for your stuff. Give me a call, and let’s do business.717-658-7954.

Thanks for reading!

BEACON BITS

July 21+

ARTSCAPE FESTIVAL

America’s largest free arts festival is coming back to Baltimore, opening on Friday, July 21 and closing on Sunday, July 23. Artscape is set to host over 150 artists, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Attendees can also taste some of Baltimore’s top food vendors. The festival will be open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Friday through Saturday, but will close at 8 p.m. on Sunday. It is scheduled to be in the Mount Royal Ave. & Cathedral St., Charles St., Bolton Hill, and Station North Arts & Entertainment neighborhoods. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.artscape.org.

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