December 2024 | Baltimore Beacon by The Beacon Newspapers

Our own Golden Bachelorette

By Laura Sturza

Of all the talented contestants who viewers faithfully followed on season one of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor,” producers chose Rockville, Maryland’s Joan Vassos to be the lead in the first season of “The Golden Bachelorette.”

The show is another spinoff of “The Bachelor,” a reality TV program that premiered in 2002. The franchise produces romance and relationship shows that offer unmarried contestants a chance to find love in front of millions of TV viewers.

Vassos, a 61-year-old school administrator and grandmother, lost her husband of 32 years to pancreatic cancer, and first sought loveon“TheGoldenBachelor”lastyear. She hadtoleavethatshowearlywhenherdaughterhadcomplicationsfromgivingbirth(both daughter and grandchild are fine).

This season, she had to make the hard decisions about which eligible bachelors stayed in the running and which went home. ABC revealed her final choice in the season finale on November 13.

Vassos started off with 24 prospective fiancés, ages 57 to 69, including a retired UN agency director, an ER doctor, a retired Navy captain, a salon owner, and a fire department chief.

Winnowing down the field of suitors took place at “rose ceremonies,” in which she handed out roses only to the men who she chose to remain on the show.

“The rose ceremonies are so painful, and you don’t want [to hurt] these lovely men who have been so open and vulnerable, and who are maybe not love connections but are your friends,” Vassos said.

Forming fast relationships

In part, these heart-wrenching decisions are a function of how rapidly things move on the show.

“You create these connections with the men really, really quickly because they share things that have happened in their lives that are life-changing events, and you don’t normally get those conversations early on in a relationship,” she said.

In each episode, Vassos faced the challenge of choosing who she imagines spending her future with and doing so on national television, surrounded by a TV crew.

How did she stay in touch with her feel-

ings and listen to her heart’s desire while all that was happening?

“That was really hard,” Vassos said. “Your interactions are brief, and you need to be very revealing, and you need to show who you are right off the bat.

“There’s so much to process, and then you have to kind of weave in your emotions with [what they are saying] to see if you’re a good fit,” Vassos added.

As she developed feelings for the men, she had to get used to the idea of a new life partner.

“That in itself was scary because I hadn’t done that since [my husband] John passed away, so even allowing myself to have feelings that I hadn’t had before was hard.”

In episode three, she grappled with whether she was as ready to remarry as she had thought — a topic many of her

suitors also had to address for themselves.

“I thought, how can I do this? I still love John,” Vassos said. “So, I met with the show psychiatrist, who is available to us at all times.”

Doing so helped her have a breakthrough. “They said...you don’t have to let go of John to hold on to this person. You can hold on to both of them.” Vassos said. “It made me so much happier...and I finally got this freedom.”

Long-distance future

The only bachelor who lived relatively close to Vassos was Pablo, a 63-year-old retired United Nations agency director from Cambridge, Maryland, almost two hours from her home. He left the show in the first episode.

LEISURE & TRAVEL

Richmond’s world-class museums and restaurants make for a great weekend getaway; plus, how to score a few hours in an airport lounge, and the new rules for airline refunds page 15

ARTS & STYLE

Time travel and witticisms converge in the humorous play On the Verge at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Joan Vassos, 61, starred in ABC’s new series “The Golden Bachelorette.” The Maryland grandmother chose Chock Chapple, an insurance executive from Kansas, in the season finale in November. They are engaged, but Vassos has vowed to stay in Maryland.

A time for thanks

I want to thank the thousands of readers, their guests and others who attended the 50+Expo events we recently offered in both Maryland and Virginia.

This was the 25th year we had presented these Expos to our readers and the larger community, so they were especially meaningful and joyous for me and the rest of us at the Beacon.

We put many months of effort into organizing our Expos, which included the many health screenings, important vaccinations, speakers and nearly 150 government agencies, nonprofits and area businesses who came

BEACON BITS

Dec. 10

this year to share information, resource materials and gobs of chocolate and useful giveaways.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By Stuart P. Rosenthal

Every year, more people appear willing to venture out to these large, often crowded events. We all know there is the potential for another pandemic down the road, but for the moment, it certainly feels freeing to be able to see each other’s faces, hear what others are saying, and enjoy the boisterous experience of being part of “the public.”

I was especially happy to see so many familiar faces and to have the opportunity to speak with you, catch up on your lives, and

HEALTHY NUTRITION (VIRTUAL)

Join this lecture to learn more about how nutrients affect aging and the immune system, including tips for making it easier to shop for healthy groceries, followed by a Q&A. The event takes place on Tue., Dec. 10 from 2 to 3 p.m. online. It is free for BC-PASS members (free for County residents 50 years and older; sign up at bit.ly/BC-PASS). Register at MyActiveCenter.com. For more information, call (410) 887-1929.

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. and Greater Washington, D.C.

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

President/Associate Publisher – Judith K. Rosenthal

Executive Vice President – Gordon Hasenei

Managing Editor – Margaret Foster

Art Director – Kyle Gregory

Vice President of Operations – Roger King

Advertising Representatives –Steve Levin, M.K. Phillips, Alan Spiegel

Assistant Editor – Ana Preger Hart

hear your views on the issues of the day.

Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that one of the best parts was hearing all the glowing compliments people shared with me about the Beacon, our writers, our sales staff and the events themselves. I was floating out the door at the end of both Expos.

Our exhibitors were equally happy to have the opportunity to meet so many active older adults who were sincerely interested in the housing communities, health providers, financial and legal advisors, recreation and travel opportunities, and community resources that participated.

I want to thank our hard-working staff for putting together these fantastic events. I also want to thank our gold sponsors AARP Virginia and Giant Pharmacy who, together with our many other sponsors, made the free events possible.

I also want to thank Giant for providing a variety of vaccines and health screenings, and the Prevention of Blindness Society for offering glaucoma tests.

If you were unable to hear my interview of writer Laura Stassi, we expect to post a video of it soon on our website at thebeaconnewspapers.com/50expos.

We are already making plans for next fall’s Expos and intend for them to be even bigger and better than this year’s. I hope

to once again see those of you who came this year, and many more of you who could not be there.

As we enter the holiday season and the year draws to a close, I want to express my thanks to, and admiration for, everyone on the Beacon staff. Their diligent work keeps our printed publications and website brimming with useful content (and relevant advertising) month after month.

I’d like to thank them here by name: Executive Vice President Gordon Hasenei; Vice President of Operations Roger King; Art Director Kyle Gregory (celebrating his 25th year at the Beacon this month!); Managing Editor Margaret Foster; Assistant Editor Ana Preger Hart; Advertising Representatives Dan Kelly, Steve Levin, M.K. Phillips and Alan Spiegel; and, of course, my wife, the Beacon’s President, Judy Rosenthal

The Beacon would not exist without all of their efforts — nor without you, who read our publications each month. I offer my sincere appreciation to each of you, too!

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season and new year.

Letters to the editor

Readers are encouraged to share their opinions 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 email info@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor:

I’m a longtime reader of the Beacon, but as I get older, can you make the print larger? If you have to, make the paper pages larger to accommodate this print enlargement.

The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 (410) 248-9101 • Email: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com

Submissions:TheBeaconwelcomesreadercontributions.Deadlineforeditorialisthe1stofthemonth

M.S. Harris Baltimore

Ed. Note: We are in the same boat; many of us find that as we age, we need reading glasses. While we can’t change the format or size of the Beacon to help you, if you have a PC, you can enlarge any print on your screen (whether

BEACON BITS

Dec. 5

on the Beacon website or any other) simply by holding down the “control” button and hitting the plus sign as often as needed, or scrolling up with your mouse. On a Mac computer, you can do the same thing by holding down the "command" button and hitting the plus sign. Another way to make use of a computer when you have low vision is to use a screen reader to have your computer read out loud to you.

You might also find it helpful to visit a low-vision clinic and ask to try out some of their devices for reading small print.

WASHINGTON MONUMENT LIGHTING

The annual Washington Monument Lighting, a Baltimore tradition since 1971 organized by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, takes place on Thu., Dec. 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. Enjoy live music, food from local vendors, and a fireworks display in and around Mount Vernon Place Park, 699 Washington Pl., Baltimore. Free.

LUNG CONDITIONS SUPPORT GROUP

Dec. 11

The American Lung Association’s Better Breathers Club offers strategies for coping with lung conditions such as asthma, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema. This free event combines speakers, discussion, movement and social activities. Join the club on Wed., Dec. 11 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Keswick, 700 W. 40th St., Baltimore. RSVP at bit.ly/BetterBreathersMD. For more information, call (410) 662-4363.

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The Family & Nursing Care Difference

y & N Famil Nuursing Care is one of the oldest and most well-respected private duty home care businesses y a in the gre ter Marylland and a. W W Waashington, D.C. are We e pride ff ourselves on offeering access to empathetic, personal companion tsf care that helps clien feeel valued, secure, and connected to the

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l e w w we woork with can help p combat f feeeling isolated or lonely include:

• i m General Comppanionshipp: In addition to helping with meeting nutritional needs, personal care,

can become close confidants and provide older adults with an outlet and space to share f feeelings, thoughts, and stories. Loneliness can be curbed with something as simple as sharing a meal or having regular conversations. Caregivers and clients often develop a faf connection like that o frriend or family member.

• Social Access: Mobility and transportation issues can inhibit u social interaction, b t you can leave those woes behind!

f A profeessional Caregiver can accompany clients to social events and get-togethers, including senior clubs, knitting ff circles, and more, offeering tons of opportunities to connect with wf potential ne frriends. “There’s no better time than

a new year to hf

embrace the companionship of a , V Caregiver,”said Kelly Salb Vice icesf President of Client Serv foor Family & Nursing Care. “Human connection has both mental and physical health benefits, and our team is passionate about providing our clients access to customized personal care services in order to help with health needs but also create a better quality of liffe e through social interaction.” Living independently doesn’t nf haavve to mea feeeling alone, and a 2025 is a gre t year to decide to spend more time in the communityy. . Family & Nursing ff Care offeers access to a range of care services to help with this and ensure human connection.

T Toolearn more, call us at (410) urw 697-8200 or visit o weebsite at r f faamilynursingcaree.com.

Health Fitness &

KICK THE HABIT

A tiny pouch filled with nicotine powder may curb smokers’ cravings

FIGHT COLDS & FLU

Yogurt, mushrooms and sweet potatoes boost your immunity

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Fiber, healthy fats and exercise help lower cholesterol naturally

THE EYES HAVE IT

Get a free eye exam and gift card for participating in a UMD study downtown

Studying how sleeping brains clear waste

By Lauran Neergaard

A unique peek inside the human brain may help explain how it clears away waste like the kind that can build up and lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

Brain cells use a lot of nutrients, which means they make a lot of waste.

Scientists have long thought the brain has special plumbing to flush out cellular trash, especially during sleep — they could see it happening in mice. But there was only circumstantial evidence of a similar system in people.

Now researchers have finally spotted that network of tiny waste-clearing channels in the brains of living people, thanks to a small study using a special kind of imaging.

“I was skeptical,” said Dr. Juan Piantino of Oregon Health & Science University, whose team reported the findings last month. “We needed this piece to say this happens in humans, too.”

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Brains are busy during sleep

The brain is remarkably active during sleep. One reason seems to be that’s the time it does a deep clean.

And that’s gotten attention because while losing a good night’s sleep muddles people’s thinking, chronic sleep deprivation also is considered a risk factor for dementia.

So how does the brain cleanse itself?

Over a decade ago, scientists at the University of Rochester first reported finding a network they dubbed the “glymphatic system.” Cerebrospinal fluid uses channels surrounding blood vessels to get deep into tissue and move waste until it exits the brain.

When mice were injected with a chief Alzheimer’s culprit named beta-amyloid, it cleared away faster when the animals were sleeping.

It’s not clear exactly how that network works, although some research has shown the pulsing of the blood vessels helps move the waste-clearing fluid where it needs go.

But it’s been hard to find that system in people. Regular MRI scans can spot some of those fluid-filled channels, but don’t show their function, Piantino said.

Advanced MRI lit the way

So his team in Oregon injected a tracer into five patients who were undergoing brain surgery and needed a more advanced form of MRI.

The tracer “lit up” under those scans, and sure enough, 24 to 48 hours later, it wasn’t moving randomly through the brain but via those channels, just like prior research had found in mice.

It’s a small but potentially important study that Rochester’s Dr. Maiken Nedergaard predicted will increase interest in how brain-waste clearance connects to

people’s health.

But to test if better sleep or other treatments might really spur waste clearance and improve health, “I have to be able to measure glymphatic function in people,” added Dr. Jeff Iliff of the University of Washington, who helped pioneer wasteclearance research.

The question is whether the new study might point to ways of doing that measuring.

Sleep isn’t the only question. For example, animal studies show an old blood pressure drug now used to treat PTSD may improve glymphatic function. Iliff and colleague Dr. Elaine Peskind are about to study it in certain patients.

Additional larger studies in healthy people are needed, and Piantino, whose lab focuses on sleep health, wants to find an easier, more non-invasive test.

“We cannot study all these questions by injecting people,” he said.

What? Another medical form to fill out?

By Heidi Godman

You’re in a doctor’s office with a clipboard and a pile of medical forms on your lap. For the umpteenth time, you must now jot down your medical history — conditions, ongoing symptoms, past procedures, current medications, and even the health of family members.

But how much information should you include? Which details are most important? And why are you slogging through paper forms when a digital version likely exists?

Put down your pen for a moment and take a breath. We have some answers.

Do they need you to fill out the forms again?

In many cases, you do need to fill out medical history forms. That can be true even if you already have a digital record on file, known as an electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR).

The need to collect new information could be due to a variety of reasons:

• The healthcare provider might want an update, since information like medications or new health problems can change over time, or you might have missing or in-

accurate information in your record.

• Different specialists need to know about different aspects of your health.

• Your EMR at one provider’s office might not be accessible to others because practices don’t always have compatible computer software.

• Some practices don’t want to rely on records created by other practices. They may not trust that they’re accurate.

Can you refuse to fill out the forms?

“You don’t have to” complete the forms, said Dr. Robert Shmerling, a rheumatologist and senior faculty editor at Harvard Health Publishing.

“But the response from the practice might be, ‘How can we provide the best care if you don’t provide the information?’ And if you persist, you run the risk of marking yourself — unfairly, perhaps — as uncooperative.”

What’s most important to share?

The most important details of your medical history include:

• chronic or new symptoms and conditions

• past surgeries

• family medical history

• insurance information

• current prescription and over-thecounter medicines, supplements, vitamins, and any herbal remedies or complementary medicines you use

• medication allergies

• vaccination history

• any screening tests you’ve had, so they won’t be prescribed unnecessarily

• any metal implants you have, which could affect screenings

If you don’t know all of the details, try to get them from a previous doctor or hospital you’ve visited.

“In some cases, not having the information could be a problem. For example, I need to know if my patients have had certain vaccines or if they have medication allergies,” said Dr. Suzanne Salamon, associate chief of gerontology at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

What information is less important?

Sometimes, leaving out certain details might not matter, depending on the purpose of your health visit.

For example, your eye doctor doesn’t need to know that you broke your wrist when you were 18, had the flu last year, or had three C-sections.

But they should know which medicines and supplements you take, and whether you have certain health conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Not sure what to leave in or out of your history? Salamon suggests that you focus on the big stuff: chronic symptoms and conditions that need ongoing treatment, medications and supplements you’re taking, and your family medical history.

“If you can, bring a copy of your medical history to all new doctor appointments. It could be written or printed from your patient portal or kept handy on a digital health app.

“That way, you’ll have it handy if you need to fill out medical forms or if the physician asks you questions about your medical history during an appointment,” Salamon advises.

How secure is your personal info?

We trust healthcare professionals with

our lives and our most private information, including our Social Security numbers (SSNs).

SSNs are used to double-check your identity to avoid medical errors, and to make sure your insurance information is accurate and practices get paid.

Is it really safe to hand over the information? It’s supposed to be. A federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects your health information with very strict rules about who can access it and how it can be shared.

“Medical practices take this very seriously,” Shmerling said. “They have lots of safeguards around personal health information, and routinely warn medical staff about not looking at or sharing informa-

FREE PILATES CLASSES

tion inappropriately — with the threat of being fired immediately if they do.

“Electronic health records usually track those who look at our information, so it’s often not hard to enforce this.”

But no hospital or other entity can guarantee that your information is protected. That’s true of all information, especially with the constant threat of cyberattacks.

“So, if you feel strongly about it, you can try saying that you’d rather not provide certain information, and ask whether the practice can explain why it’s necessary,” Shmerling said.

“It takes a certain amount of trust in the system that personal health information will be kept private, even though that may feel like taking a leap of faith.”

Heidi Godman is executive editor of Harvard Health Letter.

Pilates is a low-impact exercise for all fitness levels. Pilates strengthens and relaxes the body, leaving you feeling energized and balanced. Creative Alliance hosts free one-hour classes for beginners; no experience needed. Classes take place every other Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at the Creativity Center, 3137 Eastern Ave. Baltimore. The next community pilates class is Thurs., Dec. 5, then Thurs., 19. For more information, email info@creativealliance.org or call (410) 276-1651.

FREE YOGA CLASSES

Take a gentle yoga class set to Soul music classics. This free class, Soul Yoga for Seniors, meets every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. until Dec. 16 at 349 Eudowood Ln., Towson (on the second floor of the Family Life Center). Beginners welcome; bring a yoga mat if possible. The class is free, but registration is required at thedivinesense.com/soul-yoga. For more information, call (202) 656-4651.

MAIL OR EMAIL FOR FREE INFORMATION

Housing Communities

❏ Brightview Senior Living (see ad on page 7)

❏ Caritas House Assisted Living (see ad on page 7)

❏ Catholic Charities (see ad on page 7)

❏ Charlestown/Erickson (see ad on page 9)

❏ Christ Church Harbor Apts (see ad on page 8)

❏ Harmony at Enterprise (see ad on page 6)

❏ Harmony at Waldorf (see ad on page 6)

❏ Merion Village (see ad on page 10)

❏ Oak Crest/Erickson (see ad on page 9)

❏ Park View Laurel (see ad on page 14)

❏ Park View Towson (see ad on page 14)

❏ Park View Fullerton (see ad on page 14)

❏ Park View Rosedale (see ad on page 14)

and

❏ Pickersgill (see ad on page 11)

❏ St. Mary’s Roland View Towers (see ad on page 13)

❏ Virginia Towers (see ad on page 17)

❏ Warren Place Senior Apartments (see ad on page 13)

Clinical Health Studies

❏ Eye Blood Flow Study (see article on page 11)

❏ Prediabetes Blood Sugar Study (see ad on page 11)

Check the boxes you’re interested in and return this form to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 or take a picture and email to housing@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Can a nicotine pouch help smokers quit?

By Matthew Perrone

A tiny Philip Morris product called Zyn has been making big headlines, sparking debate about whether new nicotine-based alternatives intended for adults may be catching on with underage teens and adolescents.

Zyn is an oral pouch that contains nicotine powder and flavorings like mint, coffee and citrus. The pouches are the fastestgrowing segment of the tobacco industry, which has struggled for decades to replace falling cigarette sales.

Zyn is marketed by Philip Morris International to adult tobacco users. Competitors sell similar products. Altria, for instance, sells its own flavored pouches called On.

Although the pouches don’t actually contain tobacco, U.S. regulators still treat them as a tobacco product.

How do they work?

Users stick them between their lip and gums, where they slowly release low levels of nicotine that are absorbed into the bloodstream. Because pouches generally don’t contain tobacco, there’s no spitting, unlike older products like chew and snuff.

Philip Morris representatives say the nicotine-only formulation is part of Zyn’s appeal.

“People can be reluctant to move into an oral tobacco product if they view it as similar to traditional chewing tobacco,” company spokesman Corey Henry said. “Consumer acceptability is a big part of Zyn.”

Is Zyn healthier than tobacco?

All tobacco products carry serious health risks. Cigarettes are widely understood as the most harmful, increasing the likelihood of cancer, heart disease and lung problems. Chewing tobacco is linked to

mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss.

But in the last decade or so, researchers and health regulators have begun to acknowledge different levels of harm among different tobacco products.

In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration said a different oral tobacco product, called snus, contains lower cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes and could benefit smokers who switch.

Snus are similar to nicotine pouches like Zyn, except that they contain fermented tobacco. Studies from Sweden and other places where they are popular have shown lower rates of lung cancer and related diseases compared with other European countries where smoking is more prevalent.

There’s little research on the long-term effects of nicotine pouches, but many researchers expect they will show similarly

low rates of carcinogens and other toxic components.

Still, that doesn’t mean they’re safe. A study last year found Zyn and similar products contain low levels of harmful substancessuchasammoniaandformaldehyde.

What does the FDA say?

Currently FDA officials are letting Zyn stay on the market while they review Philip Morris’ marketing application, which was submitted in 2020.

To win FDA authorization, companies generally must show that their products will reduce disease among adult tobacco users without attracting underage use by teens and adolescents.

Is Zyn popular among young people?

Not according to the latest federal data. Only 1.5% of high school and middle schoolers reported using nicotine pouches when surveyed last year. That’s well below the roughly 10% who used electronic cigarettes.

But anti-tobacco advocates point to worrying signs: videos of young people popping the pouches have racked up millions of views on social media in recent months.

A similar surge of online activity preceded the rise of Juul, the sleek e-cigarette widely blamed for triggering a spike in teen vaping.

The FDA says it’s monitoring underage use of Zyn and other pouches and will take action, if necessary.

Can Zyn help adults quit?

Currently only a handful of products are FDA-approved to help with quitting smoking, including medications, nicotine gums and patches.

Some researchers point out that Zyn works similarly to some of those products — gradually delivering nicotine that reduces cravings.

But early research suggests Zyn and other pouches may not be enough to help smokers quit.

Ohio State University researchers recently found it took smokers 30 minutes to an hour to get enough nicotine from Zyn to relieve their cravings. With cigarettes, smokers achieved the same nicotine levels — and relief — in five minutes.

For now, Philip Morris is focused on obtaining FDA authorization to stay on the market, and eventually it has said it could seek a reduced-risk designation similar to snus.

But no tobacco company — Philip Morris included — has ever asked the FDA to approve their products to help smokers quit completely.

Boost your immunity during cold season

By Karla Walsh

We all know that washing your hands is especially important when cold and flu season comes around. But so is what you put on your plate.

“We can really boost our immunity through diet alone. Consistent intake of the micronutrients that help our bodies fight disease is a natural solution to infection prevention,” said Cassie Majestic, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California. “Micronutrients, or vitamins and minerals, are vital to disease-prevention and health development.”

So, fill your cart with the following foods to strengthen immune systems (listed in no particular order). All come recommended by Majestic; Rachel Swanson, R.D., L.D.N., a registered dietitian nutritionist and the founder of the nutrition consulting firm Rachel’s Rx in Los Angeles, California; and Rachel Fine, R.D., a registered dietitian and owner of the nutrition counseling firm To the Pointe Nutrition in New York City.

1. Citrus fruit: Among the strongest sources of vitamin C, lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit may support your body in its natural immunity process. For a bonus dose of the best foods for the immune system that are high in C, add

strawberries and avocados to your shopping list too.

2. Fermented foods: Kimchi, tempeh, miso and even kombucha are killer when it comes to combating germs.

“Fermented foods, and the probiotics they contain, are beneficial for the gut ecosystem,” Swanson said. “The majority [about 80%] of immune cells are housed within the gut, which reflects the importance of our diet in maintaining proper functioning.”

3. Chicken soup: “There’s a reason why chicken soup makes its debut a lot during cold and flu season: Poultry, such as chicken, is high in B6, which helps with formation of new red blood cells,” Swanson said.

And if you can stir in a handful of kale or chard, even better. “Dark leafy greens are high in magnesium and vitamin E, a potent antioxidant,” Swanson added.

4. Yogurt: Probiotics are good for your gut and your immune defenses.

“Yogurt [with live active cultures] will boost your intake of probiotics to support a strong microbiome, and as a result, a strong immune system,” Fine said.

5. Mushrooms: Mushrooms are one of the top immune-boosting foods. Both caps and stems offer beta-glucans, Swanson said, which are soluble fibers that re-

search suggests may lower cholesterol, improve blood sugar control and strengthen immunity. Reishi, shiitake and maitake are especially rich in beta-glucans.

6. Matcha tea: The antioxidant EGCG, found in green teas (including matcha), inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory molecules, and is “shown to have multiple actions on immune cell function,” Swanson said.

7. Sunflower seeds: Whenever you use this food that helps your immune system (whether tossed into trail mix or for topping your morning bowl of oats or yogurt), you’ll be getting a potent dose of vitamin E.

If you’re not in the mood to get seedy, “this powerful antioxidant can also be found

in peanut butter and almonds,” Fine said.

8. Sweet potatoes: Roasted, toasted (yes, sweet potato toast is a thing!) or mashed, there are dozens of delicious ways to get your fix of this immune-boosting food.

Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6, which has been shown to play a role in the development of healthy immune system function.

Better Homes and Gardens is a magazine and website devoted to ideas and improvement projects for your home and garden, plus recipes and entertaining ideas. Online at bhg.com.

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Supportive, affordable apartment communities. Total of 24 locations in Maryland, home to more than 1,800 older adults.

Caring Home Service Program

The Caring Home Services (CHS) Program, available at nine of our communities, offers services to support safely aging in place. Services include daily meals served in a group setting, weekly housekeeping, laundry, and personal services, and service management provided by the on-site CHS Supervisor. See cc-md.org/senior-communities for list of 9 locations where CHS is available.

Natural strategies help lower cholesterol

By Suzy Cohen

If you’ve recently been told your cholesterol levels are creeping into unhealthy territory, it’s a wake-up call to embrace more holistic practices for heart health.

As someone who understands both the conventional and natural sides of medicine, I want to empower you with actionable, natural strategies.

Here are five of the top ways to lower LDL, triglycerides and cholesterol naturally:

Increase soluble fiber intake

Fiber is more than just a buzzword. It’s a powerful tool to combat high LDL cholesterol.

Soluble fiber — found in foods like oats, beans, lentils, flaxseeds and fruits (especially apples and berries) — binds to cholesterol in your intestines and helps eliminate it before it’s absorbed into your bloodstream.

Adding just a couple of servings of these fiber-rich foods each day can make a significant difference.

Get

enough omega-3 fatty acids

Healthy fats are crucial for cardiovascular health, and omega-3 fatty acids are at the top of the list.

Found in fatty fish, like salmon and sardines, as well as plant-based sources like flaxseed and chia seeds, these fats are known to lower triglycerides and raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

They also fight inflammation, a key factor in heart disease. Including omega-3rich foods in your diet a couple of times a week or supplementing with a high-quality fish oil can bring lasting benefits.

Get moving with exercise

Engaging in regular physical activity — whether it’s brisk walking, cycling, swimming or weight training — can help lower LDL cholesterol, raise HDL and reduce triglycerides.

Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise weekly, and don’t shy away from adding some resistance training. Consistency is key, so find activities you enjoy.

It’s not about hitting the gym hard every day, but about incorporating movement into your routine in a way that you’ll stick with.

Remember: your heart is a muscle, and it needs regular exercise to stay strong and healthy.

Have conﬁdence in every conversation.

Do you ﬁnd it difﬁcult to use a standard phone? Do people ask you to repeat yourself during telephone conversations? Do you miss important calls because you can’t hear the phone ring? The Maryland Accessible Telecommunications (MAT) program is here to help by giving Maryland residents the opportunity to apply for State-provided telecommunications equipment to independently make and receive calls. Once you qualify, a skilled evaluator meets with you to determine the best device to support your day-to-day communications. The MAT program has a variety of equipment solutions to support clearer communication, including:

• Ampliﬁed phones

• Tablets

• Ring signalers

• Phones with large and/or high contrast buttons

• Captioned Telephones

• And more

For more information: 800-552-7724 | 410-767-7253 (Voice/TTY) 410-801-9618 (Video Phone) | MDMAT.org

Adopt a Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is a plant-based way of eating that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish and olive oil.

The focus on monounsaturated fats (especially from olive oil) and antioxidants helps lower LDL cholesterol while maintaining a healthy HDL balance.

Address nutrient deficiencies

Your body needs certain nutrients to maintain healthy cholesterol levels, and deficiencies can hinder your progress. Magnesium, CoQ10, and vitamin D all play a role in cardiovascular health.

While medications like statins can effectively lower cholesterol, they don’t address the root cause or support a comprehensive approach to heart health. You can make a big impact with the suggestions above. Your heart works hard for you every day, so take proactive steps to support its health naturally.

If you’re interested in more information, read the longer version of this article posted at my website, suzycohen.com.

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.

Meatless foods that are high in protein

By Albert Stumm

Many people consider eating less meat, whether for health, environmental or animal-welfare reasons. But they sometimes hesitate because they are concerned about how they would replace all that lost protein.

When Jennifer Anastasiou decided to go vegetarian after learning about the environmental impact of livestock, she worried at first about her protein intake.

“It was kind of hard, because when you eat meat your entire life, you don’t even have to think [about protein],” said Anastasiou, who grew up eating plenty of meat in her Irish-Catholic family in Philadelphia.

Now she relies heavily on foods that dietitians recommend for those cutting down on meat: high-protein legumes like lentils, chickpeas and beans, vegetablebased protein shakes, and veggies like cauliflower, peas and spinach.

The USDA has a calculator to determine daily nutrient recommendations, but those values represent the minimum amount you need to maintain healthy functioning, said Jenna Braddock, a dietitian in St. Augustine, Florida.

She said research suggests 0.8 to 2 grams per kilogram of weight, depending on your goals.

Small

amounts add up

A good way to reach your goal is what she called protein stacking: adding a small amount of nuts, whole-grain bread or legumes to meals you already are eating.

“It’s going to be hard to get all of that protein from one single plant-based source — whether because of either the quantity of food that you’d have to eat or the calories that it would end up being,” said Braddock, co-author of The High-Protein Vegan Cookbook for Athletes

She recommended making a batch of lentils on the weekend — half a cup has 9 grams — to stuff into tacos, add to salads or just eat on their own.

Frozen edamame is an easy go-to, and tempeh, an Indonesian fermented soy product, has 18 grams “in a pretty manageable serving size,” Braddock said.

Hemp hearts have a chewy texture, high fiber and about 3 grams of protein per tablespoon. One of her favorite snacks is yogurt with hemp hearts, fresh fruit and a drizzle of peanut butter.

Peanuts get forgotten when people talk about healthy nuts, Braddock said, but she highlights them because they’re more affordable than most nuts and still have 8 grams of protein per ¼ cup.

Seeds like pumpkin, sunflower and chia also generally are cheap and high in pro-

tein. As is quinoa, which seems like a grain but is actually a seed.

For people who might not like the tex-

mended blending them into a creamy soup or making dips out of them.

Or ask around to find the restaurant that makes the best version of tofu, for example, so you start with a positive experience that you’ll want to replicate at home.

“Make your entry point as delicious and as easy as possible,” she said.

“When it comes to eating more vegetarian or vegan, it’s not just a switch you turn

on. It’s a journey you take that you will grow in skills, ability, knowledge and competency in the kitchen.”

Try these two recipes from The HighProtein Vegan Cookbook for Athletes by Jenna Braddock and Ivy Stark.

Toasted Pumpkin Seed Dip

Serves 4

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup hulled pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

3 plum tomatoes

1 small red onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, roasted

¼ cup finely chopped cilantro

½ habanero chile, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon chipotle chile en adobo, finely minced

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of ½ orange

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Place the pepitas in a large skillet over medium-low heat. When the first one pops, stir constantly until all have popped from flat to round, about 5 minutes. Blend in a food processor to a smooth paste, scraping down the sides a few times.

Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet under the broiler and roast until blackened and very soft, flipping halfway through, about 6 minutes per side. Cool and finely chop.

In a medium bowl, combine the seed paste, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, chipotle and habanero. Stir in lime juice, orange juice and cinnamon. Taste and season with sea salt.

Serve with warm corn tortillas or crisp vegetables like baby carrots, cucumber slices, radishes and sliced fennel.

Quinoa Pilaf with Asparagus

Serves: 4

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups red quinoa

4½ cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1 bunch thin asparagus, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 small red onion, finely chopped

½ small bunch fresh basil, chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped

Directions:

Place the quinoa in a large strainer. Rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear.

Transfer quinoa to large saucepan; add the water and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Transfer quinoa to large bowl, add asparagus and let sit covered for 5 minutes, fluff with fork. Stir in oil, cumin and lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper. Add pine nuts, red onion, basil and thyme to the warm quinoa just before serving.

The quinoa will hold well covered in the fridge for five days; just add the garnishes when you are ready to reheat and serve.

Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at albertstumm.com.

Health Studies INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Eyes may be a window into aging brains

By Margaret Foster

What if an eye test could predict — or even delay — the onset of blindness or Alzheimer’s disease?

Researchers at The University of Maryland School of Medicine are studying how aging affects blood flow to the eyes. They hope that one day scientists can develop a diagnostic test to detect brain changes.

“There’s a really strong connection between the eye and the brain. About 25% of your brain is used for vision,” said Dr. Osamah Saeedi, principal investigator of the new study. “We think we can use the eye as a marker for the brain in terms of aging.”

This study looks at changes in the way blood flows in the eye using new techniques, all FDA approved, that track changes over time in normal aging.

“We want to understand how you can use the eye to screen for or diagnose diseases in the brain and in the body,” he said.

BEACON BITS

Dec. 4

Only one visit needed

The study requires just one visit, which will last one to two hours. Parking is validated at the University of Maryland facility, located in downtown Baltimore.

At the visit, researchers will examine your eyes and ask you to do a few simple tasks, such as getting up out of a chair, walking, and balancing on one foot.

“We want to look at not just the way the blood flows in the eye but how much that’s associated with your function — gait, cognition, balance,” Saeedi said.

The short visit is an easy way to get a free eye exam, he noted.

“The functional tests are super simple and super fast,” Saeedi said. “Come downtown, get a free eye exam...We can do a glasses prescription, too, if they need it.”

At the end of the visit, participants will receive an electronic gift card in the amount of $50 and they will have the option to schedule another visit if they choose.

MOBILITY AND ASSISTIVE DEVICES

This free presentation by ATI Physical Therapy includes best practices when using an assistive device, and strategies to improve balance and stability. It takes place on Wed., Dec. 4 from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. at Cockeysville Senior Center, 10535 York Rd. Registration isn’t necessary. For more information, call (410) 887-7694.

NAVIGATING GRIEF DURING HOLIDAYS

Dec.

Holidays can be difficult for people who have lost loved ones. This free presentation may help by providing the tools to focus on their well-being and daily lives. It takes place at Edgemere Senior Center, 6600 North Point Rd., on Thu., Dec. 5 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Registration isn’t necessary. For more information, call (410) 887-7530.

Peace of Mind is Priceless

People ages 50 to 90 are eligible for the study, which Saeedi hopes could benefit future generations.

“The four major causes of blindness are related to the way blood flows in the back of the eye. If we’re able to identify people early on and get them treatment, then we

can prevent blindness,” Saeedi said.

“If we can slow or stop the disease,” he said, “we can make it so it’s never a problem in their lifetime.”

For more information, email eyeresearch@som.umaryland.edu or call (667) 214-1463.

Cognition And Metabolism in Prediabetes (CAMPS) Study

Are you 50 years or older?

Are you relatively healthy, without a diabetes diagnosis?

If so, you may be eligible for a new research study in which you learn about your daily blood sugar ﬂuctuations and cognitive abilities. Receive $100 for participating. For information call 410-605-7179. Mention “CAMPS”

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MoneyMoney Law & M oneyMoney

For help paying medical bills, see story below.

They call you honey, then ask for money

By Kimberly Palmer

Finding a partner can be difficult. You may be tempted to look for love online. Unfortunately, criminals are also on the hunt — but for victims, not romance.

“Meeting people online has opened the door to romance fraud,” said Kim CasciPalangio, program director of the peer support program at the nonprofit Cybercrime Support Network in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“You feel you can trust them,” she said, adding that cybercriminals often cultivate relationships for months before asking for money.

Reports to the Federal Trade Commission show that consumers lost $1.14 billion in 2023 to romance scams. While romance scams can happen to anybody, here are some strategies experts suggest to reduce your risk of falling for one:

Beware of online relationships that move fast

People are often eager to move relationships forward quickly, especially around holidays, said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that provides advice and assistance related to identity theft. She suggests going slowly instead.

Scam artists, Velasquez explained, tend to shower their targets with affection, proclaiming their love early. Then, the victim feels compelled to send money when the scam artist says they need it.

“They make up some excuse, like [they’ve been in] an accident,” she said. If

their target doesn’t send money to them, they move on to the next victim.

Watch for common red flags

Another sign of romance fraud is if the person you are interacting with asks you to communicate off of the dating app, such as by using WhatsApp or email, said Ayleen Charlotte, whose story of being tricked by a romance scam was featured in the Netflix show “The Tinder Swindler.”

She now works with BioCatch, a fraud prevention firm, as a scam advisor and banking customer advocate.

“They want you in a more personal environment to get to you,” Charlotte said — a forum where they can interact with you on their own terms without any limits imposed by dating apps.

Casci-Palangio said another sign that something is amiss is if the person you are communicating with declines to have video calls with you or meet in person. They might cite reasons such as living overseas, serving in the military or working on an offshore oil rig.

“They may not be who they say they are,” Casci-Palangio said.

They might also be using canned scripts that they send to multiple people. Using terms like “honey” instead of your name is a sign you could be communicating with a scammer.

Do your own research

If you start to wonder about the person you are communicating with online, it’s time to go into investigative mode.

Casci-Palangio suggests starting with a reverse image search of their profile photos. You can upload any photo to images.google.com to generate results.

You might discover the images actually belong to someone else or are used across multiple sites with different names and identities.

“But they could also be using a newly created image. Having no online footprint is also a red flag,” she added.

Melanie McGovern, national spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit that promotes marketplace trust, suggests taking notes on your interactions so you can notice any inconsistencies. If your love interest mentions a high school they attended, look it up and confirm whatever other facts you can.

“Make sure you’re asking all kinds of specific questions,” McGovern said, especially if they share a sad story about a sick relative or other compelling tale.

Then, go back and ask the same questions a week later. “If they can’t remember details, you should be skeptical,” she said.

Avoid exchanging money

One common scenario involves the scam artist asking you to accept a large deposit, which you are then to forward to another account. But then, the first check doesn’t clear, and your own money vanishes, warns Seth Ruden, BioCatch’s director of global advisory.

“Don’t take funds from people you’ve never met, and don’t offer to circulate funds for others,” Ruden said. “If you au-

thorize a money transfer, you are probably responsible for it,” he added, which means you might never see your money again.

Report the fraud

Try to swallow your pride, even if you feel ashamed at being scammed. It’s important to report your experience to the proper authorities.

“A lot of people feel stupid for falling into any type of scam, and that’s the taboo I want to take off. You are not stupid. This is what a fraudster does. This is their job,” Charlotte said.

To help victims feel less alone, the Cybercrime Support Network organizes groups for them to meet weekly to help process what they experienced and find emotional support.

“Usually, they haven’t told anyone yet because they’re embarrassed,” CasciPalangio said.

People who have experienced romance scams can help others by reporting the scam to their bank’s fraud department, as well as the FTC, a state’s attorney general’s office, the FBI, a local police station, the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker and the Identity Theft Resource Center, among others. Visit reportfraud.ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).

“Scams can happen to any of us,” Charlotte said. “The right scam just has to find the right person at the right time.”

AP/NerdWallet. This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.

Help for surprisingly high medical bills

By Cora Lewis

Unexpectedly high medical bills are common in the United States, but there are ways to get relief. While the process of fighting high medical bills can be timeconsuming and frustrating, advocates stress that patients shouldn’t be intimidated by the system.

If you’ve received a surprise medical bill, here’s what you should know:

You may qualify for charity care

When Luisa, 33, received a medical bill

for more than $1,000 after an emergency hospital visit for a viral infection, she was able to have the whole amount covered by the hospital after appealing to their financial assistance policy.

“It was my first time going through something like that,” said Luisa, who asked to be identified only by her first name due to privacy concerns. “I tried to be an informed consumer and ask questions when I was in the hospital about the costs, but obviously it’s hard when you’re sick in the emergency room.”

Luisa had heard about the patient advocacy organization Dollar For (dollarfor.org) thanks to a viral video, and she filled out the nonprofit’s online form after receiving her surprise bill. The organization contacted the hospital, which was based in central Florida.

Eventually, the hospital contacted Luisa directly to let her know she did in fact qualify for financial assistance. Even though she had already paid a portion of the costs with a credit card, Dollar For was able to get those payments refunded.

Laws governing hospital charity care require that nonprofit hospitals lower or write off bills for individuals, depending on household income.

“Federal law requires hospitals to have these programs to keep their tax-exempt status,”saidJaredWalker,CEOofDollarFor.“If you’re within their income range, they will write off, waive, forgive or reduce your bills.”

To determine if you qualify, you can simply Google the hospital along with the

When to consider a donor-advised fund

By Evan T. Beach, CFP

Too often we think about charitable giving in the context of the rich and powerful, where, it seems, the rich keep getting richer via some complex charitable strategy.

While there are significant tax benefits to properly structured charitable giving, the reality is much less exciting. You will save some percentage of your gift if you do it properly, but you’ll always end up with less money than you started with. That’s the point: You’re giving money away.

When it comes to charitable planning, charitable intent must be the first box you check. Once you have decided you can afford to give and that you want to give, you have to decide how you’ll give.

A donor-advised fund (DAF) may be that “how.” Put simply, a DAF is a financial account that allows you to make taxdeductible contributions of cash or assets, invest those contributions now in the account tax-free, and then recommend grants out of the account to your favorite charities over time.

Your tax deduction is recognized at the time you put the money into the DAF, regardless of when the money makes it to your charity of choice.

Below are three triggers that you can use as a hand-raising exercise. If you are charitably inclined and raise your hand to one or

more of these triggers, you should evaluate a DAF. I have also used this strategy for many clients who are not in these situations, so this is by no means a comprehensive list.

You no longer itemize

In 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly changed the tax code. The Tax Foundation estimates that only a third of taxpayers who itemized pre-TCJA itemize post-TCJA.

In plain English, a very small percentage of taxpayers will actually be able to take a charitable deduction for their giving because they do not give more than the standard deduction.

This reality introduced a strategy called “charitable stacking,” where instead of giving every year, you give charity for many years all at once.

For example, instead of giving $10,000 per year over five years, you give $50,000 in one year and then don’t give for the subsequent four years. This allows you to get above the standard deduction in year one and receive a tax benefit for your giving.

The handy part of the DAF in this scenario is that this doesn’t have to disrupt the beneficiaries of your giving. You can make the donation into the DAF in year one and then make grants from that fund in future years, just as you would have if the funds

were coming from your bank account.

You sold your forever home

We live in the DC Metro area. It seems like in the past five years, every home purchased by a Boomer in the ’80s or ’90s is now worth over $1 million. This is an uptown problem for the owner, but it likely makes a portion of the gain from a sale taxable from the IRS perspective.

Depending on the size of the gain and where you live, that can be substantial. A $500,000 gain in Maryland is likely to cost you $150,000 in federal and state taxes.

On the plus side: Charitable giving has a bigger impact (offsetting other income) in years when your tax rates are especially high. Because the sale of a home is a onetime hit, your tax rate will be higher that year but drop the following year.

So we often advise clients to make several years of charitable gifts in the year they sell their home. They can then distribute those funds in future years from their DAF as they would have under normal circumstances.

You

just retired or sold your business

The typical tax trend for those who retire is down, then up. Once wages go away, but before you claim Social Security and

take distributions from retirement accounts, your effective tax rate should be lower. Charitable contributions will be less impactful during this period, as they offset a lower obligation.

On the flip side, your last year working is often the one with the highest income and, therefore, the highest tax rate. This is compounded if you are a business owner who has just sold a business.

A DAF will allow you to make large charitable contributions in that final year of work (or sale) and take that deduction against a larger amount of gross income without having to decide who you are giving to. You can make that decision in subsequent years when grants are made from the fund to the charities of your choice.

Key questions before giving

When considering charitable giving, ask yourself three questions in this order:

1. Is charitable giving the primary intent?

2. Can I afford to give?

3. How should I give?

This article is all about the last question. Your financial plan should tell you whether you can afford to give.

Medical

bills

phrase “charity care” or “financial assistance policy.” Dollar For also provides an online tool for patients to see if they qualify.

Even if you’ve already been paying off medical debt, the hospital will be required to refund the payments you’ve made.

Appeal to the No Surprises Act

While protections against surprise bills have long existed for those who have Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare, laws are now also in place for those with private or marketplace insurance.

The federal No Surprises Act covers people who have insurance through their employers, the marketplace or individual plans. It says that insurance companies must reasonably cover any out-of-network services related to emergency and some non-emergency medical care.

That means if you’re being charged

more than you’re used to or expect when you receive in-network services, that bill may be illegal.

To challenge any bill covered under this law, you can use the free help desk and hotline of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at 1-800-985-3059, or visit cms.gov/medical-bill-rights/help/dispute-a-bill.

Some states also have free consumer assistance programs to help with disputes and insurance questions. [See note at end of article.]

You can always contact the medical billing department of any hospital in writing to say that you believe a bill is in violation of the No Surprises Act and ask the hospital to deal directly with your insurance company.

“The complexity of the system itself is as big a problem as affordability,” said Kaye Pastaina, who heads research on patient protections for KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization.

“A lot of it is from the fragmented sys-

tem and complex rules, but also lack of awareness about existing protections that are a part of federal law that might help.”

Ask for an itemized bill

Even if you don’t qualify for charity care or you’re not sure your bills are covered by the No Surprises Act, you may be able to reduce the charges.

Medical billing is notoriously byzantine and rife with errors. Anytime you receive a bill, ask the hospital or healthcare provider for an itemized bill that includes the billing codes of all the care you received. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that providers share this information.

Next, check whether the billing codes are accurate. Again, simply Googling the codes with the phrase “medical billing code” can help. If something is off, contesting your bill with your medical provider or physician’s office can yield changes.

Another approach: comparing the bill with

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insurance companies’ estimates of fair charges for services. If the price you were charged is more than average, you can have your costs lowered. You could even take the provider to small claims court over the discrepancy (or let them know you have a case).

Finally, compare your insurance company’s “explanation of benefits” to the bill. This explanation of costs covered and not covered must match the hospital’s bill. If they don’t, you have another reason not to pay, and to ask the provider to work with your insurance company further first.

Persistence pays off

Despite the hassle, these steps can save you considerable sums of money. Even after taking these steps, you can always appeal health claims with your insurance company if you think there is any reason the bills should be covered entirely or more than the company initially decided. You can also contact your state insurance commissioner for support.

“What we’ve seen in our research and the data is that those folks who appeal — and there are few who appeal — but for those who appeal, there’s a high level of overturning,” Pastaina said.

Ed. Note: The Maryland Office of the Attorney General helps consumers with health insurance questions or problems; call 1-800-492-6116.

BEACON BITS

Dec. 4

SPEND SMART OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Learn about the psychology of financial decision-making and examine your money values and habits to improve your household’s bottom line in this free virtual presentation on Wed., Dec. 4, from noon to 1 p.m. online. Register at bit.ly/SmartHolidaySpending. For more information, call (410) 887-0238.

TACKLING

Dec. 3

MEDICAL DEBT

Have you received an unexpected hospital bill? Are you underinsured? Maryland’s laws on medical debt collection have changed over the past five years. Find out about financial assistance policies, payment plans and your rights from experts from Economic Action Maryland. This free virtual session takes place online on Tues., Dec. 3 from 7 to 8 p.m. Register at bit.ly/BCPLhospitaldebt or ask your local library branch to help register.

Travel Leisure &

How can you access an airport lounge without flying first class? See page 16.

Visit Richmond for its diverse museums

By Glenda C. Booth

Once viewed as a buttoned-up town with a dark history, Richmond today is owning its past and blossoming into a vibrant metropolis that celebrates diversity of all kinds.

The city’s multiple museums offer days of contemplation. One of Richmond’s many history museums, The Valentine Museum, offers an introductory overview of Richmond’s jewels, warts and wrinkles.

Situated in the former studio of sculptor Edward Valentine, the museum includes an exhibit on the “Lost Cause” myth — an ideology attempting to justify the Civil War and slavery as a states’ rights issue.

Other exhibits tell the stories of Indigenous people, African Americans, Civil Rights and women’s suffrage activists, and Richmond’s industries, from Reynolds Metal to Lucky Strike. Photographs and artifacts also focus on the city’s distinctive neighborhoods, like The Fan, which is lined with Victorian rowhouses.

A five-minute walk from The Valentine is the historic State Capitol, where the state legislature has met since 1788. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson, who was inspired by France’s Maison Carrée, a classical Roman temple.

Walk-in visitors can join a free guided tour inside to gaze at the rotunda and its life-size marble sculpture of George Wash-

ington.

On Capitol Square, 12 life-size bronze statues represent a group of accomplished Virginia women whose lives spanned four centuries. Among those whose likeness is preserved by the Virginia Women’s Monument are Cockacoeske, a Native American tribal chief, Clementina Rind, the colony’s public printer, and Adele Goodman Clark, a founder of the state’s Equal Suffrage League.

Nearby, the Civil Rights Memorial honors Barbara Johns — the courageous 16year-old who staged a school walkout protesting racial segregation. She is flanked by seven other desegregation crusaders standing under her comment, “It seemed like reaching for the moon.”

The Virginia Holocaust Museum, located in a former tobacco warehouse on the James River, tracks the Ipson family’s 1943 escape from a Lithuanian ghetto. They hid for six months in a cellar, “the potato hole,” before emigrating to America and settling in Richmond.

Among the museum’s 6,000 artifacts and 1,400 documents is a piece of original barbed-wire fence from the Dachau concentration camp.

The Beth Ahabah Museum recognizes Jewish people who came to the Virginia territory as early as 1650 and created a thriving community in the city. It is locat-

ed in a synagogue of the same name situated in the city’s Fan District (named for the streets that fan out from Monroe Park).

Black history

Richmond, like the rest of Virginia, has both scars of racism and many heroes.

A few blocks from Shockoe Bottom, the country’s second-largest slave trading center, the Reconciliation Statue memorializes the slave trade, and a self-guided Slave Trail unravels slavery’s mechanics and evils.

In historic Jackson Ward, the “birthplace of Black Capitalism,” Maggie Walker’s home tells a story of empowerment.

As the first African American woman bank president, she “turned nickels into dollars.”

When, from the 1860s to the 1930s, white establishments refused to serve Black people, she created a bank, department store, insurance company, newspaper and Girl Scout troop. Her bronze statue is a noble presence at Adams and West Broad Streets.

At the Black History Museum and Cultural Center, exhibits recount slavery from Egypt to the present, along with stories from enslaved people’s resistance, the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement.

Visitors learn that in 1849, Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved man, mailed himself to Philadelphia abolitionists in a wooden crate, a 27-hour journey.

Another statue pays tribute to the wellknown Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the famous dancer from Richmond remembered for tapping up and down stairs in a complex rhythmic pattern. He was the country’s most highly-paid African American entertainer in the early 20th century.

The city’s historic Monument Avenue no longer has towering statues of Confederate generals, but it does have one of tennis great and Richmonder Arthur Ashe who, surrounded by children, holds a tennis racket in one hand and a book in the other.

Art and nature

Located on Arthur Ashe Boulevard is Richmond’s most internationally acclaimed museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which offers free admission.

Its collection includes Himalayan and Indian art as well as works by Goya, Delacroix, John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer, and images by photographers Gordon Parks and Sally Mann.

The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, located 15 minutes from downtown Richmond, lights up every holiday season. This year’s Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights runs from November 18 to January 5, 2025.

The Virginia Women’s Monument features life-sized bronze statues of women from the state, including Cockacoeske, a Pamunkey chieftain; Jamestown colonist Anne Burras Laydon; frontierswoman Mary Draper Ingles; entrepreneur Laura Copenhaver; teacher Virginia Randolph; and Adèle Clark, suffragist and artist.

Why and how to access an airport lounge

By Becca Van Sambeck

Spending time in airports is one of the worst parts of travel. They’re uncomfortable, loud and crowded. And even a measly bottle of water will cost two or three times as much when purchased at an airport.

However, there is a more enjoyable way to pass time in an airport, whether you’re awaiting your first leg or killing time during a layover: an airport lounge.

A lot of people assume airport lounges are an inaccessible luxury, only available to certain rewards credit card holders or first-class travelers.

That simply isn’t the case. There are a variety of ways to get access to an airport lounge, including day passes and special programs. Here is what you need to know:

What are lounge benefits?

Unless you’re dealing with an extensive layover or flight delay, many people try to spend limited time in the airport before their flight.

But even a short stay in a lounge is vastly more appealing than sitting in an uncomfortable seat at your gate and dragging your carry-on around to find a reasonably priced snack.

NotonlydoloungeshavebetterWiFi,tons of comfortable seating and televisions, they alsousuallyofferfreefoodanddrinks,includ-

ing alcoholic options. Some even have showers for those coming off long-haul flights or running to an important destination.

Simply put, lounges are quieter, cleaner, more relaxing places to be before a flight.

Ways to access a lounge

Travelers have many different options for gaining airport lounge access, including:

• Buy a first class or business ticket. A higher-class ticket often comes with many perks to justify that cost — including lounge access. However, not every airline still offers lounge access with this ticket level if you’re flying domestic, so you’ll want to confirm before you purchase.

• Gain status with an airline. Joining a loyalty program with an airline is one of the most consistent ways to get access to an airport lounge. After all, airlines want you to keep choosing them over the competition, so the more flights you book with them after signing up for a frequent flyer program, the more benefits you’ll receive. However, airlines usually require you to reach elite status to be able to use the lounge, which is a lot of flights.

• Sign up for the right credit card. Many credit cards will offer you lounge access as a perk, especially if you sign up for a travel rewards card.

Some of these cards are directly part-

nered with specific lounges (such as the American Express Centurion card and lounge), while others give you access to ones operated by certain airlines (the Platinum card from American Express gets you into Delta lounges, among others).

Still others work directly with Priority Pass (more on that later) to get you into a wide range of lounges across the globe.

The only downside is these kinds of cards usually have high annual fees and may require a certain spending limit to get this benefit.

• Buy a day pass. Many lounges will allow you to purchase a day pass so you can access all the amenities. The fee is usually somewhere from $35 to $80 — which might actually save you money if you were going to purchase food, drinks or WiFi anyway. Of course, day passes are not offered by every lounge, so check online in advance to see what your options are at the airport.

• Purchase an annual pass. If you really like a certain lounge, you can get a pass for more access than a day. Several offer annual membership programs, including Delta ($695) and American Airlines ($750).

• Enroll in Priority Pass. Priority Pass, asmentionedabove,isaprogramthatgrants people access to lounges all over the world.

If you don’t get it for free through your credit card, you can simply enroll in a

membership on your own. There are different tiers with different benefits, ranging from $99 to $469 a year.

Priority Pass, like any option, has its pros and cons. If you’re traveling quite a bit, like the idea of spending time in an airport lounge and want to avoid high fees, Priority Pass is a smart choice, offering 1,600 lounges all over the globe (including 150-plus in the United States).

There are three tiers of membership:

• Standard, $99. You pay $35 to get into a lounge, and it’s $35 to bring a guest in.

• Standard Plus, $329. You get 10 free visits a year before you have to pay the $35 to enter a lounge. A guest costs $35.

• Prestige, $469. You get unlimited free visits a year, and a guest costs $35 each visit. However, there are certainly downsides to Priority Pass. It’s not a given you’ll actually get into a lounge, as they have limited spaces set aside for Priority Pass members. Also,theloungesavailablearen’talwaysas nice or high-end as others in the airport, and you never get to bring in a guest for free.

Plus, while there’s a tier range, the membership price may end up being just as high as getting access to lounges through the other options listed.

It may also be more economical to sign up

In the 135-acre park-like Hollywood Cemetery (named for its holly trees, not Tinseltown), funerary art and nature intermingle amid winding roads and paths, mausoleums, reliquaries, obelisks, urns, pyramids and crosses.

It is the resting place for 80,000 people, including U.S. presidents John Tyler and James Monroe; governors and other Virginia luminaries; and local writer Ellen Glasgow, who often satirized Richmond families.

To research the master of the macabre, the Poe Museum is the place to go. Museum-goers can gain a few insights into poet Edgar Allen Poe — from his turbulent childhood in Richmond as an adoptee, to his mysterious death in Baltimore at age 40.

Artifacts, including a lock of his hair and a piece of his coffin, rest in dim light on creaky floors.There’sevenablackcatnamedEdgar wandering around the garden.

War history

Virginia has been at the center of several wars. Historic St. John’s Church is where Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” oration was delivered in 1775. The Church now stages reenactments of that speech several times during the year and weekly in the summer.

Muskets are fired daily at 1 p.m. at the American Civil War Museum, located on the

site of the Tredegar Iron Works, an arsenal that made cannons for the Confederate army.

The museum tells the war’s story and legacy from multiple perspectives, including that of women, free and enslaved people of color from both the North and South, Indigenous people and soldiers.

The “1865 Fall of Richmond” exhibit there showcases a Confederate battle flag captured by Tad Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s 12-year-old son, when they visited the city two days after the South’s surrender.

The Virginia War Memorial honors those who served in more recent wars, including World Wars I and II, Korea and the Persian Gulf.

The Virginia Museum of History and Culture’s upcoming Vietnam War exhibit, from November 23 to July 6, 2025, will feature oral histories of some of the 230,000 Virginians who served.

Nature aglow

Just outside Richmond, the 50-acre Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is worth a visit in any season. Its 15 themed gardens showcase perennials, roses, shrubs, vegetables, wetland plants and native trees.

Winter is a good time to study the gardens’ “bones,” colorful berries and fuzzy buds. In the domed conservatory you’ll find cacti, orchids, other tropical and subtropical plants and butterflies.

The garden’s Dominion Energy Garden-

Fest of Lights is an annual winter display of more than one million lights, including 110 trees glowing with them. USA Today named the garden’s 2023 show the number-one botanical garden holiday light show in the country. This year’s show runs from November 18 to January 5, 2025.

If you go

Richmond is 160 miles south of Balitmore. While Amtrak has several daily trains to the downtown Main Street Station and to Staples Mill, seven miles northwest of downtown, a car comes in handy to see Richmond’s different neighborhoods. Parking is easy and often free.

There are many lodging choices, like the historic Linden Row Inn, with its indoor courtyard (nightly rates range from $155$310 per night), or the Quirk Hotel, where

guests relax on raspberry-colored sofas and in a rooftop bar (nightly rates start at $196).

Some travelers splurge on the five-star Jefferson Hotel, which opened in 1895 and has hosted notables like Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and 13 U.S. presidents. Rates start at $319 per night.

Richmond has restaurants for every pocketbook and taste. Mama J’s in Jackson Ward serves classic Southern fried chicken, catfish, collard greens, mac and cheese and pineapple-coconut cake.

The Rappahannock Oyster Company specializes in seafood, including Virginia oysters. Kuba Kuba serves Cuban fare. Perly’s is a popular kosher-style deli downtown.

For more ideas about what to visit, do and eat, see visitrichmondva.com, richmondmagazine.com or historicstjohnschurch.org/reenactments.

BELTWAY MOTEL & SUITES

New rules for airlines — what they mean

You’ve probably seen some coverage of theDepartmentofTransportation(DoT)big “New Rules” announcements this past spring. Some of the coverage has been a bit over the top, but overall the new rules are good (rather than great) news for consumers.

Refunds

Probably the most important new rule requires airlines that owe you a cash refund to make that refund fully, promptly and automatically.

son, it owes you a full refund. Typically, that principle applies regardless of the reason for the cancellation or delay. The company didn’t deliver what you paid for, so you get your money back.

That principle has been in airline contracts of carriage forever, and I suspect it dates from common law in times before there were airlines.

TRAVEL TIPS

By Ed Perkins

For years, a fundamental rule has been that when an airline cancels a flight or delays it significantly, the airline owes you its next available seat or some other voluntary accommodation. But if you don’t like the airline’s offer for any rea-

The new rule doesn’t change that principle. What it adds is a clear definition of a substantial or “significant” delay.

Many contracts are vague about this point, and DoT says that the new seat-or-refund rule will now kick in if the new schedule is three hours or more before your original departure or gets you to your destination three hours or more after your

original schedule for domestic flights (six hours in both cases for international flights).

That’s actually a bit looser than some airlines’ contracts specify, but it clarifies the situation for all of them. The refund rule also specifically includes ancillary fees paid along with airfares.

And it includes some new protections when airlines or travelers have to cancel because of communicable diseases contracted by passengers or rife at a destination.

A second part of the new rule requires airlines to make refunds promptly — within seven days for tickets bought with a credit card and 30 days for those purchased with cash or check.

When an airline facing a refund requirement offers you a seat on a different flight, if you don’t like their offer, the airline is free to negotiate some other arrangement with you. But once you say “no” to the air-

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line’s final offer, it should initiate a refund without any further action on your part.

The rule also requires airlines to refund fees for checked baggage that is delayed: specifically, if an airline doesn’t deliver your mishandled bag within 12 hours after your arrival for a domestic flight or 15 to 30 hours for international flights depending on length.

To me, this misses the mark. Whenever your checked bag doesn’t arrive on the same flight you do, your hassle starts immediately, not after 12 hours. DoT could have done better.

Overall, this new rule is an improvement. It will be implemented within six months.

Junk fees

A second rule is designed to “Protect ConsumersfromSurpriseAirlineJunkFees.” This translates into a requirement that airlines fully disclose fees for checked baggage, carry-on baggage, and changes or cancellations by a consumer along with each fare quote.

This rule includes an interesting requirement. If you’re entitled to a “free” checked bag through your airline credit card or some other fee exemption based on frequent flyer or military status, airlines will be required to include your fee exemptions in their fare quotes and to pass that information to online ticket agencies.

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Airlines are also prohibited from advertising “discounts” based on lowball fare quotes that omit stiff airline-imposed fees — fees that are really part of the fare. This rule is a no-brainer.

DoT’s releases crow about the administration’s record on consumer protection, which is pretty good, in general. Some key issues remain on the table, but these rules are steps in the right direction. DoT: Keep up the good work!

Airport lounges

From page 16

for a day pass each time you want to use a lounge. This largely depends on how much you’re traveling and your travel habits.

The bottom line

Airport lounges aren’t just for first-class travelers! Research your credit cards and frequent flier programs to make sure you aren’t missing out on any lounge perks. If you don’t have that and still want to enter a lounge, there are other affordable options so you can make your airport experience as comfortable as possible. © 2024 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.DistributedbyTribuneContentAgency,LLC.

Arts & Style

A cosmic, comic play now at Fells Point

By Dan Collins

The play On the Verge; or, the Geography of Yearning mixes science fiction, bits of American pop history, an exploration of women’s evolving societal roles, word play, and a dollop of Cool Whip (you’ll find out) into a surreally silly yet thought-provoking adventure.

Playwright Eric Overmyer — award-winning writer and producer of TV staples like “The Wire,” “Law & Order” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” — wrote On the Verge at the beginning of his career.

It premiered in 1985 at Baltimore’s Center Stage.The WashingtonPost calledit“abrainy piece of whimsy” when it played at the Keegan Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 1988.

Now, nearly 40 years later, On the Verge returns to Baltimore at Fells Point Corner Theatre.

Simple yet complex plot

The plot is simple: Three women of the Victorian era — Mary (Shelby Sullivan), Alex (Barbara Madison Hauck) and Fanny (Nikki Jay) — embark on an expedition to explore Terra Incognita, an uncharted land “west of Australia and east of Peru.”

Along the way they encounter native

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people, an alligator and even the Abominable Snowman. Not unlike three Jane Porters from the Tarzan novels, wielding machetes and carrying rucksacks, they have exciting adventures, though not with Tarzan — just a cannibal named Alphonse (Morgan Stanton).

However, slowly and incrementally, things start to go off the rails as the trio, slogging through swamps and crawling over craggy crevices, discover a copy of the New York Times with a story about “President Nix-ON,” as Fanny pronounces the name.

They unearth a side mirror from a car imprinted with “Objects May Be Closer Than They Appear” and an “I Like Ike” button, along with egg-beaters from electric mixers.

Back to the future

Soon the future, like some virus, starts to infect their speech. Fanny seems to suddenly know all about the National Review, which wouldn’t debut until 1955, and the delights of the Jacuzzi, invented in 1968.

Alex “osmotes” (the process by which the trio divines futuristic terms and ideas) dirigibles, which she adds to her conflation

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of terms like “delicious” and “delirious.”

And did I mention the “gorge troll” (Morgan Stanton again; handily playing multiple roles) that the three encounter as they struggle across a rickety bridge, who

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rhymes like a 60s

“What have we here but travelers three,

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hippie poet

modernday rap artist?

PHOTO BY SHEALYN JAE PHOTOGRAPHY.

On the Verge’s trio of time travelers are Shelby Charé Sullivan as Mary, Niki Jay as Fanny and Barbara Madison Hauck as Alex. The play by Eric Overmyer runs at Fells Point Corner Theatre until Dec. 1.

Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos kisses the man she chose from among 24 vying for her love on national television. Our cover story continues on p. 20.

Bachelorette

From page 1

Since the remaining men were from across the United States, how would Vassos, who was born in Olney and works at the Landon School in Bethesda, and her prospective future husband make things work?

“I’m never leaving Maryland. I said that from the very beginning, that my family is the most important thing to me,” said Vas-

BEACON BITS

HOLIDAY MARKET

Dec.

sos, citing her commitments to her mom, mother-in-law, four children and three grandchildren.

“But I also want to meet a man who has the same feelings about family and the same values that I have.” So she wouldn’t ask him to leave his family, just as she wouldn’t leave hers.

Instead, she pictures them living for weeks or months at one another’s homes, and possibly having a shared location where they meet.

This night holiday market takes place in The Patterson and the Creativity Center at the Creative Alliance. It features Made in Baltimore vendors and Highlandtown’s annual tree lighting and holiday celebration. Visit 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore, on Fri., Dec. 4 from 4 to 9 p.m. to shop for locally crafted goods and enjoy holiday cheer. Tickets are not required for this free event. For more information, call (410) 276-1651.

BALTIMORE MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA

Dec. 15

Visit the Corner Community Center to hear Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra perform holiday and seasonal music. This event takes place on Sun., Dec. 15 from 3 to 4 p.m. at 5802 Roland Ave., Baltimore. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door. For more information, call Carla van Berkum at (443) 934-3896.

Dec. 30+

SONGWRITER MEETUP

This monthly songwriter night takes place at Manor Mill, 2029 Monkton Rd. on Mon., Dec. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. Whether you are a lyricist, a melody writer or both, you are welcome to explore the songwriting process, find a collaborator, learn about making demos and more. Free. Register at bit.ly/SongwriterMeetup. For more information, call (410) 842-5590.

That is good news for her family, including her mother, Mary De Kramer, who lives at a retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland.

De Kramer celebrated her daughter’s search for love by dressing up entirely in gold to attend a viewing party. There, her friends cheered on her daughter and assessed the husband-worthiness of each prospective mate.

An inspiration for others

Other older adults in the area also followed Vassos’ journey and shared her vision for finding love after loss.

Rockville viewer and widow Barbara Isard-Stone, 73, thinks the men on the show are similar to those she has met.

“My dating experience is that there’s no macho act going on...We don’t have the time for any frenzied nonsense” late in life.

“The men on the show are seasoned enough to know that if they just act like strong men, they’re not going anywhere,” Isard-Stone said. “They have to show their sensitiveside...theirvulnerability,whichisappealing, and I think they know it’s appealing.”

While the glamorous clothes and activities on the show don’t reflect the kind of dates most older adults are likely to go on, Isard-Stone said, “these people still have their inner worlds even if they’re on a Hollywood production.”

And besides, she predicts that when it’s all over, “they’re going to go back to their

laundry and Lean Cuisine.”

What she finds most appealing about Vassos is how she listens to the bachelors. “Joan shows a lot of compassion; the men respond to it,” Isard-Stone said.

Adriana Glenn is a 58-year-old nursing professor in Northern Virginia who, like Vassos, lost her husband and has been dating in the DMV. She admired Vassos for leaving “The Golden Bachelor” last year to support her daughter.

At the same time, Glenn would have liked to see a Golden Bachelorette who was somewhat more outside mainstream depictions of beauty.

“Any of the other contestants from the first show would have also been appealing” and could have represented people who don’t necessarily meet those traditional standards [the way Vassos does], Glenn said.

Like Vassos, Glenn hopes to meet “someone I can confide my secrets with, and I can share my dreams and hopes — because we still have them.”

She and millions of others who awaited Vassos’ choice of a mate in the season finale watched Vassos choose Chock Chapple, an insurance executive from Wichita, Kansas, as the man she would marry. The finale featured his bended-knee proposal to her in Bora Bora.

Those looking to catch an in-person glimpse of the couple should keep an eye out for them in the area. Perhaps the pair will show up at a date night near you.

Comin’ cross the bridge to rap with me? In Xanadu said Ka-u-ba-la Khan, ‘Hey there, sweet things, what’s going on?’”

They also meet Penelope Chan’s mesmerizing Madame Nhu, resplendent in an Asian “dragon lady” costume and four-inch black dagger-like nails, who dispenses fortune-cookie wisdom (and the cookies), to the trio’s delight.

Helping interpret the past

So, what is this all about, anyway? As the play’s protagonists trek into the future, we may find meaning in the past, specifically the early 1980s, when this play was written.

That was a time when women began to enjoy the fruits of hard-won rights of previous years: Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space aboard the shuttle Challenger; Sandra Day O’Connor, first female Supreme Court justice; and Princess Diana, taking England — and the world — by storm.

This was a time when women were “on the verge” of great things, of achieving what Mary calls “the civilizing mission of women…to reduce the amount of masculinity in the world.”

Despite the characters’ travails, the

play’s message ultimately seems to be about personal triumph over obstacles, physical, emotional and cultural. It’s about hope for the future and a better way of life, where women are free to wear both hoop skirts and trousers.

One quibble

The play is most definitely entertaining, but one might appreciate it more by simply reading its witty, multi-syllabic passages, such as: “The bane of my many travels in the tropics is a bland, mucilaginous paste called manioc, made from the forlorn and despicable cassava, a tuber of dubious provenance.”

Here one notices the occasional drawbacks of theater, as I (and at least one disgruntled audience member behind me) had difficulty making out the words.

Either headset microphones or a greater effort by the actors to project their voices would help clarify the playscript’s bulky sentences.

Despite this drawback, directors Kimberley Lynne and Penelope Chan deserve much applause for guiding this talented cast through African jungles, Himalayan peaks and even a 1950s casino resort a la Sinatra’s Rat Pack, all achieved on Fells Point Corner Theatre’s main stage.

Costume designer Anna Hiser Mc-

Greevy demonstrates expertise with the actors’ period clothing, and Justin Nepomuceno’s simple set evokes a feeling of a world — and time — in motion.

On The Verge continues its run at Fells

Point Corner Theatre, located at 251 S. Ann Street in Upper Fells Point, through December 1. Tickets are $24 and may be purchased at fpct.org. For more information, call (410) 878-0228.

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Scrabble answers on p. 21.

Crossword Puzzle

Get Right to the Point By Stephen Sherr

Across

1. The ___ Splitter (nickname for Honest Abe)

5. Greeting at Kahului Airport

10. Charging station

14. Coin in Ireland or Finland

15. Dimwit

16. Lendl, who won 8 Grand Slam titles

17. Poised to go in either direction (==>.)

19. Uncomfortable topic of conversation (==>.)

20. Unit of currency in the The Simpsons: Tapped Out game

21. Narcissists have fragile ones

22. Honey-makers’ hang-out

23. 22 World Book volumes

25. Sometimes life imitates it

26. Lyric verses

27. Part of every e-mail address

30. Hat-tipper’s word

32. Fall from grace

34. “I love the gray ___ between right and wrong” (Dan Brown)

36. NY univ. for STEM students

37. Cantankerous

41. Just doesn’t matter (==>.)

43. Come to the wrong conclusion (==>.)

45. 12% of U.S. renewable energy in 2021

46. Falcon or Skylark

47. Follow closely

48. Last letter in London

50. “Hold on; I’m still working ___”

52. Abbrev. in a Snickerdoodle recipe

53. Call at first

56. Newhart setting

58. Actor Elliott or Rockwell

60. Reunion attendee

61. Common prop in a 3-camera sitcom

63. The most cramped section of an airplane

67. AD IN, to the server (==>.)

68. Stay on-topic (==>.)

70. “I wholeheartedly agree!”

71. Bert’s buddy

72. Get a foot in the ___

73. Arrange M&Ms by color

74. Disreputable

75. Song with distinct hand-motions

Down

1. Follow the subtitles

2. Start to -crat or -graph

3. Persian Gulf nation

4. National flower of India

5. Start of &

6. Run easily

7. Paper folding art form

8. Word in both the Ten Commandment and the Boy Scout’s Oath

9. Uneasy feelings

10. Sketchy

11. Egg-shaped

12. Work on the buffet line

13. Some skirts cover them

18. Big-ticket ___

24. Root in the middle of “ROOT AROUND”

27. Speaker’s platform

28. Estimator’s words

29. Color in Charlotte Hornets uniforms

31. Appropriate abbrev. for apartment

33. Movie title word with Complicated or Alive

35. Dismay

38. ASAP, in a hospital

39. Day in History

40. Website with over 300 million user reviews

42. Prospector’s goal

43. Recipient of a prostate exam

44. Flower named from the Greek word for “rainbow”

46. Imprison

49. Speaks with contempt

51. “The art of making a point without making an enemy” (Isaac Newton)

53. Roots and Shôgun

54. Rental car company with a booth at San Antonio International Airport

55. One who sets off a bug bomb

57. Dame in Indiana or Paris

59. Temperamental

62. Liquid with a pH lower than 7

64. Elementary particle

65. Neapolitan ice cream section (briefly)

66. Greek goddess of marriage

69. Handcuff accessory

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; Legal 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.

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PREPARE FOR POWER OUTAGES

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HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

All classified ads must be submitted and paid for online, via our website, www.thebeaconnewspapers.com/classifieds Deadlines and Payments: To appear in the next issue, your ad text and payment must be entered by the 5th of the preceding month (for Baltimore and Howard County editions); by the 20th (for Washington edition).

Cost will be based on the number of characters and spaces in your ad: • $25 for 1-250 • $35 for 251-500. • $50 for 501-750 (maximum length). The website will calculate this for you. Note: Maryland contractors must provide a valid MHIC number. Each real estate listing qualifies as one ad. All ads are subject to publisher’s discretion. Payment will be refunded if unacceptable for any reason.

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

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POWERFUL PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (Never Known to Fail) - Oh, most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine splendor of heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, star of the sea, help me and show me, herein you are my mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth! I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in this necessity (make request). There is nothing that can withstand your power. Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (3 times) Holy Mary I place this cause in your hands (3 times). Say prayer 3 consecutive days. Publish it. Your petitions will be granted to you. Thank you for always listening to me. * BGE.