June 2018 | Fifty Plus Richmond by The Beacon Newspapers

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Feeling vulnerable Every year — in fact, almost every day — temporarily take over (or even destroy) the we gain more and more power over nature systems we rely upon. Internet cables below the sea can be cut. Satellites are and over our lives through vulnerable to intercontinental technology. missiles. Computers worldwide This is true not only for indiare subject to viruses we can’t viduals, but also for societies erase. and governments throughout A recent alert from the FBI the world. and Department of Homeland On the one hand, it seems as Security warned that the dethough this is progress that structive power of malevolent solves real problems (as well viruses is believed to already as problems we didn’t even lurk in the computers that servknow we had), and that it enice much of our government and hances peace and prosperity FROM THE business sectors. These viruses by enabling instantaneous PUBLISHER worldwide communication and By Stuart P. Rosenthal may (someday) affect the functioning of our electrical grid, as sharing of information. On the other hand, sometimes it feels as well as water, aviation, nuclear and critical though each new solution simultaneously manufacturing sectors. The alert focuses on a “multi-stage intrusion makes us more vulnerable to a potentially catcampaign” believed to have been placed there astrophic problem. The more of an interdependent worldwide by Russian government actors, but we may community we become, the more reliant we house similar Trojan horses from N. Korea and become on the technological systems that China as well. I suppose it’s possible, or even likely, that bring us together — the Internet, satellites, we have developed the same power over computers and the like. At the same time, this reliance makes us those and other countries. What happens if more vulnerable to threats that may now or one of us moves to act and then the other rein the future have the ability to partially or sponds in kind? Will human beings be able to

function anywhere on the planet other than in the most rural, off-line communities that haven’t developed dependence on computers? How did we come to this point? I don’t think it’s due to something inherently evil in technology. I believe it’s far more likely because of many things inherent in human nature. A surprisingly large number of ordinary people engaging in perfectly normal behavior appear to play a role. They include the following: • the careless government employee or contractor who fails to protect access to his computer or account, • the clueless ordinary citizen who is easily scammed by responding to a phishing email or opening an attachment, allowing a virus not only to infect his computer, but to spread to every person on his contact list, • the government or business employee who feels personally aggrieved over something and posts secret passwords or hacking tools online or otherwise shares critical data with outside groups like WikiLeaks, • the agent of a rogue nation or enemy just “doing his job,” and • the con man out to make a buck, sending viruses worldwide and demanding ransom dollars, without regard to the damage he does. All of this is the stuff of nightmares and spy novels, but it is also, apparently, today’s reality. Major figures from the military, Con-

gress and the press are warning us of our growing vulnerability. People in a position to know are telling us that we are not taking the dangers seriously enough. What, if anything, can we do as individuals? We have a voice in electing our leaders, in calling/writing/emailing members of Congress, in writing to agencies and newspapers, and in speaking about these issues with friends — not just as cocktail conversation, but in order to form and support groups that may have meaningful influence. We may not be able to individually effect change, but we can communicate our views to those who can. We also ought to be more careful about our personal use of technology, and rethink how much of our private information we’re willing to share in order to be able to access the convenience of the latest app or website. Today’s (and tomorrow’s) technology enable us to do both far more good, as well as far more harm, in the world than ever before. Let us use our minds and our voices to call attention to the latter, and to share with our leaders how vulnerable we feel we’ve become as a result.

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Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in Fifty Plus as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to Fifty Plus, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail to info@fiftyplusrichmond.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification. Dear Editor: Age discrimination and older adults in automotive predicaments [“A call to action by all drivers,” May] is close to the bone for me thanks to an experience of my dad’s. The fact that help is at our literal fingertips thanks to mobile phones, yet people don’t take a moment to help [others] sickens me. We ALWAYS stop or call 911 [when we see a driver in distress], even if it might be overkill. Thanks to CPR training, I know the rule about literally pointing at someone and saying

“YOU! Call 911!” because of the human failing of thinking someone else has “got it.” I don’t wish to infantilize older adults, but I just know that being in shock, injured, afraid, in pain makes everyone feel like a scared little kid. We are all in this together, and need to do better for our most vulnerable, especially including our older adults, whom we ought to respect and treasure. Victoria Hathaway via e-mail

M A R K YO U R C ALE NDAR

June 16

BUMBLEBEE JAMBOREE

Bring your grandkids to the 7th annual Bumblebee Jamboree on Saturday, June 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Maymont Children’s Farm, 1000 Spottswood Rd., Richmond. There will be a children’s planting station, an observation bee hive, storytelling, a puppet show, a live butterfly tent and more. Admission is free. For more information, visit bit.ly/2018BBJ.

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Feature Story Going for the gold at the Senior Games

See SENIOR GAMES, page 6

✃

Joe Roussos won a gold medal in the softball hit and throw competition. In addition, he and his brothers made up a team for 3-on-3 basketball, winning a silver medal.

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“Moving to pickleball seemed like a wonderful change,” Jewell said, “and the sport became active around the time I had to stop playing tennis.” This year was the third time Gaidos and Jewell played mixed doubles together in the Virginia Senior Games. Jewell enjoys playing with Gaidos because of his finesse. “Even though he had a knee replacement last December, he’s still fast. And he’s a smart player. He knows his opponents’ weaknesses and strengths, and plays accordingly,” she said. Gaidos praises Jewell for her excellent strokes, a clear sign of her experience playing tennis. Both Gaidos and Jewell are competitive by nature, as evidenced by their gold medal, but they appreciate the camaraderie they enjoy with the other players. “We chitchat about children, grandchildren, animals, and where to eat lunch,” Gaidos said. “I wouldn’t say I was great at pickleball,” Gaidos said, “but I always enjoyed it.” The fact that he practices at least four days a week and won three gold medals at the games — with Jewell in mixed doubles, and in singles and in men’s doubles — suggest he must be pretty great at it, but both Gaidos and Jewell are modest about their wins. “When you get older, the number of participants gets slimmer,” Jewell said, “so sometimes you get a medal just because nobody else is in your age group.” Athlete: Kim Sydnor, 80 Events: Shot put, discus, javelin (both discus and javelin were rescheduled to June because of rain) While attending high school and college in Lynchburg, Sydnor enjoyed competing on his track and field teams. He even held records for discus and shot put, although he plays those honors down, saying he was a “big fish in a small pond.” Four years ago, when Sydnor first learned about the Virginia Senior Games, he was excited to participate in the events he had enjoyed as a youth. He signed up for the hammer throw, discus, shot put and javelin. He had never thrown the javelin before, but he said he believes in the benefit of learning new things, so he taught himself how to do it. Although Sydnor had not participated in field event competitions for many decades, he had remained physically active, making time to play basketball or tennis, and to go jog-

PHOTO BY DAN CURRIER

By Catherine Brown Hundreds of older adults braved buckets of rain last month to give their all to competing in the Virginia Senior Games. At multiple locations, more than 1,300 men and women participated in 68 events spread over 18 different sports, including pickleball, swimming, cycling, racquetball, and track and field. This is the 40th year the Virginia Recreation and Park Society has presented the Virginia Senior Games, giving seasoned athletes as well as novices the opportunity to compete. No matter your skill level or ability, anyone 50 or older is welcome to participate. You don’t even need to be a Virginian, as competitors may come from other states as well. For each event, athletes are broken up into age brackets according to their birth year. This year’s contestants ranged from 50 to 98. The Henrico Recreation Department hosted last year’s and this year’s Games. Each town hosts for four years, so there will be two more opportunities to compete in Henrico before the Games move on to another city in 2021. And as for all that rain, most of the events were held on schedule, from May 11 to 19. But discus, javelin and pole vault competitions were postponed to June 9. Fifty Plus interviewed seven Richmondarea athletes who participated, and learned that the Virginia Senior Games provide a friendly but competitive environment for older athletes to have fun and go for the gold. Here are their stories: Athletes: Emile “Nip” Gaidos, 80, and Stephanie Jewell, 85 Events: Pickleball mixed doubles (Gaidos also played singles and men’s doubles with his brother Bill) Medal: Gold Gaidos and Jewell met on the pickleball court several years ago and decided they were a great match, given their backgrounds and level of play. Pickleball is a paddleboard sport (sort of a cross between badminton and tennis, played with a plastic ball) that has burgeoned in popularity over the last decade. The competition drew nearly 300 participants at the Virginia Games, the largest crowd of any sport there. Gaidos started playing pickleball about six or seven years ago. He played sandlot tennis as a youth and racquetball for many years. Jewell was a lifelong singles and doubles tennis player in Bon Air and Kailmarnick. After having played tennis for 50 years, she finally retired because it became too tough on her joints.

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Fitness &

Health

HOSPITAL PRICING Medicare requires hospitals to post prices online and ease access to records BET ON THIS People can become addicted to gambling just as they can to drugs and alcohol AT-HOME GENE TESTS Should you test for Alzheimer’s, cancer and other genetic risks on your own? WARTS AND ALL Untreated warts can spread to other people, but most adults are immune

Immune therapy works well for lung cancer By Marilynn Marchione For the first time, a treatment that boosts the immune system greatly improved survival in people newly diagnosed with the most common form of lung cancer. It’s the biggest win so far for immunotherapy, which has had much of its success until now in less common cancers. In the study, Merck’s Keytruda, given with standard chemotherapy, cut in half the risk of dying or having the cancer worsen, compared to chemo alone after nearly one year. The results are expected to quickly set a new standard of care for about 70,000 patients each year in the United States whose lung cancer has already spread by the time it’s found. Another study found that an immunotherapy combo — the Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs Opdivo and Yervoy — worked better than chemo for delaying the time until cancer worsened in advanced lung cancer patients whose tumors have many gene flaws, as nearly half do. But the benefit lasted less than two months on average, and it’s too soon to know if the combo improves overall survival, as Keytruda did. All of these immune therapy treatments

worked for only about half of patients, but that’s far better than chemo has done in the past. “We’re not nearly where we need to be yet,” said Dr. Roy Herbst, a Yale Cancer Center lung expert who had no role in the studies. Results were discussed at a recent American Association for Cancer Research conference in Chicago and published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The studies were sponsored by the drugmakers, and many study leaders and Herbst consult for the companies.

How the drugs work Keytruda, Yervoy and Opdivo are called checkpoint inhibitors. They remove a cloak that some cancer cells have that hides them from the immune system. The drugs are given through IVs and cost about $12,500 a month. Keytruda was approved last year as an initial treatment with chemo for the most common form of advanced lung cancer, but doctors have been leery to use it because that was based on a small study that did not show whether it prolongs life.

The new study, led by Dr. Leena Gandhi of NYU’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, gives that proof. In it, 616 patients were given chemo and some also received Keytruda. Those not given Keytruda were allowed to switch to it if their cancer worsened. After one year, 69 percent of people originally assigned to Keytruda were alive versus 49 percent of the others — a result that experts called remarkable considering that the second group’s survival was improved because half of them wound up switching. How much it ultimately will extend life isn’t known — more than half in the Keytruda group are still alive; median survival was just over 11 months for the others. The Keytruda combo also delayed the time until cancer worsened — an average of nine months versus five months for the chemoonly group. That’s a big difference for such an advanced cancer, said Dr. Alice Shaw, a Massachusetts General Hospital lung cancer expert and one of the conference leaders. “This is really a pivotal study ... a new standard of care,” said Shaw, who has no ties to the drugmak-

ers. Rates of serious side effects were similar, but twice as many in the Keytruda group dropped out because of them. More than 4 percent of that group developed lung inflammation and three patients died of it.

Additional options Dr. Matthew Hellmann of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York led a study testing the Opdivo-Yervoy combo versus chemo in a slightly different group of newly diagnosed advanced lung cancer patients. The study design was changed after it was underway to look at results according to patients’ tumor mutation burden — a measure of how flawed their cancer genes are, according to a profiling test by Foundation Medicine. Medicare recently agreed to cover the $3,000 test for advanced cancers. Of 679 patients, 299 had a high number of gene flaws in their tumors. In that group, survival without worsening of disease was 43 percent after one year for those on the immunotherapy drugs See IMMUNE THERAPY, page 5

Study says limit alcohol to one drink a day By Mike Stobee Here’s some sobering news: A large international study says adults should average no more than one alcoholic drink per day, and that means drinking guidelines in many countries may be far too loose. The study found that people who down more than seven drinks a week can expect to die sooner than those who drink less. “What this is saying is, if you’re really concerned about your longevity, don’t have more than a drink a day,” said David Jernigan, a Johns Hopkins University alcohol researcher who was not involved in the study.

Men’s limit cut in half While the U.S. government currently recommends no more than seven drinks a week for women, the recommendation for men is

14 drinks. That’s because earlier studies found women are hit by the effects of alcohol at lower amounts than men for several reasons, including women weigh less than men on average and blood alcohol concentrations rise faster. The new study estimates that 40-year-old men who drink as much as the current U.S. guidelines allow can expect to live one to two years less than men who have no more than seven drinks per week. Canada and Sweden have guidelines similar to those in the U.S. set by the Department of Agriculture. Some countries have much higher ceilings. Spain and Romania set the upper limit for men at the equivalent of 20 drinks each week, for example. British guidelines were like the U.S. standards until two years ago, when U.K. health

officials brought the recommendation for men down to the level for women. The study “is a serious wake-up call for many countries,” Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said in a statement. The group partly funded the study, which was published in the Lancet.

Stroke and heart disease risk The research combined results from 83 studies conducted in 19 countries, tracking nearly 600,000 people who drank alcohol. The researchers focused on who developed — and died from — stroke and different forms of heart disease. They made a point of excluding people who had a known history of heart problems at the time they had entered a study. About half the participants said they had

more than 100 grams of alcohol a week. There’s variation from country to country as to how many grams of alcohol are generally found in a standard drink. In Britain, that’s about six pints of beer a week. But in the U.S., 100 grams is equivalent to what’s in seven 12ounce cans of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of rum, gin or other distilled spirits. The researchers found a higher risk of stroke, heart failure and other problems in that group of heavier drinkers. That may partly reflect that alcohol can elevate blood pressure and alter cholesterol levels, the researchers said. Notably, the heavier drinkers were less likely to have a heart attack. But balanced See LIMIT ALCOHOL, page 7

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Update on heart attacks and antibiotics First some interesting facts: Beware clarithromycin/Biaxin The beating sound your heart makes is I received two questions today. The first caused by its valves, which came from Tom who lives in open and close routinely, in a Oklahoma, and he asked me if specific rhythm. antibiotics could impact his Most heart attacks happen heart. on a Monday. Not to be Since antibiotics are drug scrooge, but December 25th, muggers of almost all vitamins Christmas Day, is the most and minerals [i.e., they can precommon day of the year for vent your body from utilizing these heart attacks. important substances], the anIn an average day, your heart swer is “Yes!” You need nutrients pumps the equivalent of nearly to keep your heart beating propDEAR 2,000 gallons of blood through erly, because they act as a catayour body. Compare that to a PHARMACIST lyst for your electric system. six-person hot tub, which holds By Suzy Cohen Tom took clarithromycin about 450 gallons of water. (brand name: Biaxin) as part of The fairy wasp has the tiniest heart on triple therapy for his ulcer. Clarithromycin is record, whereas blue whales have the largest a popular anti-bacterial sold worldwide. one, about five feet long. The FDA issued a safety alert about it back Google is developing algorithms that it in 2005, based on early study results pointing to says can predict a heart attack by looking in heart problems with this drug. It did not at the your eye! This, according to research pub- time call for any changes in the labeling; just for lished in Nature Biomedical Engineering. patients to be made aware of the findings.

But this past March, the FDA issued a stronger “safety announcement” advising caution in prescribing it to patients with heart disease. This is based on 10 more years of follow-up results in the same study, which found people who took the antibiotic years ago (for even two weeks) might have a higher risk of dying from heart disease years later. It doesn’t matter what condition you take the drug for — whether it’s for ulcers, sinus infections or wounds. It can still impact the cardiovascular system, and FYI, it’s not alone. Many antibiotics impact your heart. So if your doctor prescribes the medication Clarithromycin and you already have heart disease or hypertension, I’d remind the doc of your condition in light of the recent studies. Don’t trust your doctor to know everything. If you’ve had a heart attack or have heart failure, it’s not out of line to ask for a different antibiotic. This reminder (about your medical history) becomes particularly important if you go to a walk-in clinic instead of your regular physician. My second question came from Brad in

Florida regarding his pacemaker. He asked if it can be hacked. Theoretically, yes. Never say never. Unscrupulous creeps could hack a pacemaker and reprogram it, causing it to do erratic pulsing, deliver potentially fatal shocks, or stop altogether by draining the battery. But in order to do this, a hacker would need to know the brand of your implanted device and its particular radio frequency. Then, we need this unethical person to know how to reprogram that specific proprietary device, and he’d have to get in close enough range to tinker with the software. Sounds like a movie plot! So breathe easy, because the odds are low that anyone would hack your pacemaker. This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement. Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.SuzyCohen.com.

fewer tumor gene flaws. “We have a tool that helps us determine who are the patients that are most likely to benefit from this combination,” Hellmann said. The median time until cancer worsened

was about 7 months on the immunotherapy drugs versus 5.5 months for chemo. Serious side effects were a little more common in the chemo group. Another rival, Genentech, recently an-

nounced that its checkpoint inhibitor, Tecentriq, improved survival in a study similar to the one testing Keytruda. Details are expected in a couple of months. — AP

Immune therapy From page 4 versus 13 percent of those on chemo. The immunotherapy drugs did not help people with

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Senior Games From page 3 ging, walking or hiking in the woods. “I like to do anything that seems competitive and interesting,” he said. He now exercises three days a week starting at 6 a.m., using the exercise machines and stretch classes available at Covenant Woods, a continuing care retirement community in Hanover County, where he lives. “Anticipating the Games helps me keep to my exercise routine,” he said. Sydnor has won medals in the past, but said he doesn’t keep track. “It’s nice. I like winning medals, but that’s not why I’m out there,” he said. For Sydnor, the Games provide a chance to stay mentally and physically fit — and an opportunity to show his grandkids what he can do. Athlete: Joe Roussos, 63 Events: Horseshoes, softball hit and throw, free throw competition, 3-on 3-basketball Medals: Gold, gold, gold, silver For Roussos, the Virginia Senior Games are a family affair. He first got involved two years ago, with several of his six siblings, when the Games were held in the Tidewater area. Over the past few years, he has played pickleball, basketball and mini-golf, receiving medals in every event. This year, mini-golf was not offered, and he dropped pickleball because he hadn’t had

enough time to practice. Instead, he picked up horseshoes and softball hit and throw. A regular basketball player, Roussos was excited to play three-on-three basketball with his brothers Louis and Constantine. He was also excited to watch his sister Christine compete in the Games. “She is the ultimate competitor,” he said. Although Roussos had played softball and basketball when he was younger, he took a long hiatus from competitive sports after breaking an ankle in his 20s. Now he sees that injury and the resulting break in his sports career in a positive light. “I’m glad I didn’t play competitive sports over the last 30 years,” Roussos said. “Most of my friends who did play have knee problems or other injuries, and I’m in pretty good shape in terms of my joints,” he said. Roussos took up basketball four years ago because he wanted to get in shape. “I play with mostly younger guys,” Roussos said, “so I have to work hard to keep up.” That push to keep up clearly benefits Roussos when he competes in his age bracket in the Games. Athlete: Leslie Moore, 63 Events: Pickleball, women’s doubles Although Leslie Moore has always run for exercise, until a few years ago she had never played a sport. As the seventh of eight children, she didn’t have the chance to compete as a youth. “My role in the family was to come home and help my mom cook and clean,” she said.

JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

After seeing pickleball advertised in the local paper, Moore decided to give it a try. “I got involved before it was super popular, so there were enough beginner players that it wasn’t difficult to play and develop some skill,” she said. After learning about the Virginia Senior Games, Moore decided to compete this year for the fun of it. She and her partner beat their first competitors from Virginia Beach but were beaten by the more advanced players they battled against in the second set. Then they lost in a single elimination game. For Moore, the Virginia Senior Games provides an opportunity to develop more comfort with tournament play and to have fun. “Everybody at the Games is very friendly, and they all root for one another,” Moore said. “It’s always fun!” Athletes: The Astrops: Rob, 66, and Cecil, 64 Events: 5k, 10k, 1500m Medals: gold (5k) (Cecil), bronze (10k), silver (1500m) (Rob) Rob and Cecil Astrop believe the couple that runs together, stays together. Between the two of them, they have run over 100 marathons. Cecil won the Richmond Marathon back in 1989 and 1991, and was runner-up in 1992. Now, after 34 years of marriage, they still run about 40 to 50 miles a week, and they recently completed the Illinois Marathon.

For the Astrops, the Virginia Senior Games mark one of many opportunities to compete. Each year, Cecil typically runs a couple of marathons a year and a handful of half marathons or 10-milers, while Rob also runs 5k and 10k races. Rob sometimes runs up to 20 races a year, and he frequently finishes in the top two. One of the Astrops’ reasons for participating in the Virginia Senior Games is to qualify for the National Senior Games held every other year. Generally, the top four participants in each state event — as well as those who meet certain time requirements — are eligible to compete at the national level the following year. Last month, both Rob and Cecil qualified to compete in the National Senior Games to be held in Albuquerque, N.M. in 2019. After having qualified for the nationals in 2016, the Astrops attended the 2017 National Senior Games in Birmingham, Ala. with over 10,000 fellow competitors ranging in age from 50 to over 100. Cecil placed fourth out of twenty in her age group, and Rob placed tenth out of thirty. They said they were inspired to see 90-something runners still participating in events on the national level. Ultimately, both Rob and Cecil find joy in being able to keep running. “In the middle of a run, I thank God for letting me suffer this much,” Rob said. “It’s a mental game, but we’re always trying to slow down as slowly as possible.”

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Hospitals must post care prices online By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Medicare will require hospitals to post their standard prices online and make electronic medical records more readily available to patients. The program is also starting a comprehensive review of how it will pay for costly new forms of immunotherapy to battle cancer. Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the new requirement for online prices reflects the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to encourage patients to become better-educated decision makers in their own care. “We are just beginning on price transparency,” said Verma. “We know that hospi-

tals have this information, and we’re asking them to post what they have online.” Hospitals are required to disclose prices publicly, but the latest change would put that information online in machine-readable format that can be easily processed by computers. It may still prove to be confusing to consumers, since standard rates are like list prices, and don’t reflect what insurers and government programs pay. Patients concerned about their potential out-of-pocket costs from a hospitalization would still be advised to consult with their insurer. Most insurance plans nowadays have an annual limit on how much patients must pay in copays and deductibles — although

Limit alcohol

previous studies can be problematic if they aren’t similar enough, though this one appears to have done a good job at overcoming that obstacle and combining comparable data, Jernigan said. Researchers relied on what participants reported drinking at the start, recognizing that many people may be lowballing how much they actually down. And the study didn’t account for any changes in their drinking habits. — AP

From page 4 against the increased risk of a stroke and other heart problems, the impact of drinking more than seven drinks a week is more bad than good, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Angela Wood of the University of Cambridge in England. Like most studies, this one has flaws. It’s not built to make firm conclusions about cause and effect. Research that rolls together

traditional Medicare does not. Likewise, many healthcare providers already make computerized records available to patients. But starting in 2021, Medicare would base part of a hospital’s payments on how good a job they do. Using electronic medical records remains a cumbersome task, and the Trump administration has invited technology companies to design secure apps that would let patients access their records from all their providers instead of having to go to different portals.

Costly cancer treatment Verma also announced Medicare is starting a comprehensive review of how it will pay for a

costly new form of immunotherapy called CART. It’s gene therapy that turbocharges a patient’s own immune system cells to attack cancer. Immune system T cells are filtered from the patient’s own blood and reprogrammed to target and kill cancer cells that had managed to evade them. Hundreds of millions of copies of the revved-up cells are then returned to the patient’s blood to take on the cancer. Only a couple of such treatments have been approved for blood cancers, and the cost can exceed $370,000 per patient. “It’s a new area for the agency,” said Verma. “We haven’t seen drugs priced at this level, and we’re having to think about our strategy.” — AP

M A R K YO U R CAL EN DA R

June 28

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Chesterfield County and the Council on Aging offer an emergency management workshop on Thursday, June 28 at 9 a.m. Participants will learn how to prepare for emergencies and disasters by understanding the hazards that can affect Chesterfield County, what supplies are needed to sustain themselves for at least 72 hours following a disaster, how to communicate with others, and how to stay connected to information relevant to the incident. Jessica Robison from Chesterfield County CERT will present in the Lucy Corr Village Mast Auditorium, 6800 Lucy Corr Blvd., Chesterfield. For more information, visit www.chesterfield.gov/seniorevents, or call (804) 768-7878.

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JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Can too much gambling make you ill? By Howard J. Shaffer This might come as a surprise, but it’s true. You can become addicted to gambling just like you can become addicted to alcohol or other drugs. For most gamblers, betting on the outcome of a sporting event, lottery drawing, casino table game, or any event with an outcome determined by chance represents an entertaining recreational activity. However, for some, gambling can become an addiction. An estimated two to three percent of the U.S. population has experienced some kind of gambling-related problem during the past 12 months. That means about 5.5 million people currently have a gambling disorder or gambling-related problems that don’t quite rise to the level of a disorder. Gambling disorder is now a part of the American Psychiatric Association’s latest version of its diagnostic manual (DSM-5). Gambling is the first “behavioral” addiction

included in the substance-related and addictive disorders section of the manual. For the first time, the APA recognizes that substance-related addiction and difficult-tocontrol behavioral addiction are similar enough to be grouped as comparable expressions of addiction. Now, clinicians, scientists, policy makers, gambling purveyors, and the public alike recognize that addiction can emerge from patterns of excessive behavior that derive from either using a substance, such as tobacco or alcohol, or engaging in activities like gambling, video game playing or sex.

History and causes Historically, opinions about gambling have tended to mirror the social and moral climate of the day. Gambling problems aren’t anything new; there were scientific papers written about excessive gambling as far back as 1798 and,

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reaching even further back into history, there are cave drawings depicting gamblingrelated behaviors. However, the concept that problem gambling is not a moral defect but instead a disorder is relatively new. Most experts and clinicians now consider gambling addiction as a legitimate biological, cognitive and behavioral disorder. Further, although mental disorders can lead to problem gambling, gambling to excess also can lead to other problems. Gambling problems have many potential causes: genetics, erroneous thought patterns, impulse control disorders, poverty, and personal experiences, for example.

Do you have a gambling problem? To see if you might be struggling with a gambling disorder, answer these three questions: • During the past 12 months, have you become restless, irritable, or anxious when trying to stop and/or cut down on gambling? • During the past 12 months, have you tried to keep your family or friends from knowing how much you gambled? • During the past 12 months, did you have such financial trouble as a result of gambling that you had to get help with living expenses

from family, friends or welfare? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should evaluate your gambling and how it fits into your life. There are many resources to help. My colleagues and I have published an easily accessible book — Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life (Jossey-Bass, 2012) — that can help you to evaluate your gambling and decide whether you might be a candidate for treatment. Some people need treatment to recover from addiction, while others recover on their own with no help from anyone. To figure out whether you might benefit from a change, you need to take stock. A variety of mental health issues often accompany excessive gambling. You might have some of these symptoms even if they don’t reflect a full-blown disorder. It’s worth it to figure out whether gambling and associated activities are adversely influencing your life. Understanding how gambling works for you is a worthwhile exercise, even if you choose to continue gambling. Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D is a contributor to Harvard Health Publications. © 2018. President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FIFTYPLUS â&#x20AC;&#x201D; JUNE 2018

Pros and cons of do-it-yourself gene test By Dr. Howard LeWine Q: I am considering ordering a genetic test to see if I am at risk for cancer or Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease. What are the pros and cons? A: Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a question many people are asking now that the FDA has given the green light to third-party direct-to-consumer (DTC) test kits that look for genetic risk information. A DTC test is a sort of do-it-yourself genetic fact finder. The tests, which cost a few hundred dollars, are not covered by insurance, and the results are delivered directly to you. The test kit is shipped to you, with instructions. In the privacy of your home, you collect cells â&#x20AC;&#x201D; typically, using either a cheek swab or a saliva collection tube â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and then send them to a lab. The test results are usually posted on a secure website, where you view your information. DTC tests can accurately detect genetic markers that increase disease risk. But being at increased risk for a disease doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean you will definitely get the disease. For example, if most people have a one-ina-thousand chance of getting a disease, but you have a marker that triples your risk, that means your risk is three in a thousand â&#x20AC;&#x201D; still a very low risk. There are thousands of markers that indi-

cate you are at increased risk for different conditions, but they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t perfectly predict whether you will get those conditions. For example, if you have one copy of the APOE4 gene marker, it triples your risk for developing Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease. Likewise, if you carry a certain marker within the LRRK2 gene, it increases your risk for developing Parkinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease two to three times. Still, many people with these genetic markers do not get the diseases for which they are at increased risk. In contrast, some genetic markers indicate you are at very high risk. If you have one of the classic BRCA1 mutations, and you live long enough, you have a 60 to 70 percent chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer. Before ordering a genetic test, be sure that you really want to know the results, and whether you would make changes in your life based on the findings. If you do decide to order a genetic test, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best to choose one that is FDA-approved, and that provides a very clear explanation of the results. Share the results with your primary care doctor. If the results suggest a higher than average risk of a particular disease, your doctor can advise you on ways to lower the risk. On the other hand, a test result showing a lower than average risk might falsely reas-

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Beth Sholom Woods is an equal housing opportunity facility designed to provide housing to extremely low, very low and low-income elderly age 62 and over. Ten percent of its 111 apartments have been altered for accessibility. Applicants age 18 or more who have mobility/physical disability and need the features of our barrier-free/handicapped units may apply for one of these eleven accessible units. Beth Sholom Woods is a Section 202/8-Section 223 (f) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) project. Qualified applicants pay 30% of his or her monthly income towards rent and utilities. An Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic with a therapeutic pool is located on site. Beth Sholom Woods is part of the Beth Sholom Lifecare Community in the Far West End of Richmond. For more information or an application, please call (804) 741-4691, Monday-Friday, 9am-4:30pm.

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sure you and lead to your paying less attention to a healthy lifestyle. Q: I want to eat healthier. But I find food labels such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;naturalâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;organicâ&#x20AC;? confusing. Does it really make a difference? A: Not only are the terms confusing, but so are the various associated health claims. The phrases on packaging usually donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell you if the food is truly better for your health. The FDA doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a formal definition for â&#x20AC;&#x153;natural.â&#x20AC;? But the agency doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t object to the term if a food does not contain added color, artificial flavors or synthetic substances. For a food to be certified â&#x20AC;&#x153;organic,â&#x20AC;? the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires the food to be produced according to strict farming and production standards â&#x20AC;&#x201D; without genetic engineering, radiation, sewage sludge, or synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Animals raised on organic farms receive no antibiotics or growth hormones, are given feed that has been grown organically, and are able to roam around outside. Processed organic foods must not contain synthetic additives. Only foods that are 95 percent organic can carry a â&#x20AC;&#x153;USDA Organicâ&#x20AC;? seal. Organic foods donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t appear to have a nutritional advantage over conventionally grown food. Both methods use pesticides, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

unclear if the pesticides used in organic farming are safer than those used in conventional farming. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough information yet to know if the lack of hormones and antibiotics in organic animal products makes them healthier than conventional animal products, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a reasonable possibility. For example, pasture-raised chicken contains more omega-3 fatty acids. Grass-fed beef is leaner. Wild-caught salmon tends to have lower levels of toxins, such as mercury. You likely have seen foods marked as nonGMO. These foods do not contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms). GMOs are created when scientists alter plant DNA to make crops resistant to bugs or fungi. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heavily debated whether using GMOs alters the nutritional quality of food or poses a threat to health. Organic and â&#x20AC;&#x153;naturalâ&#x20AC;? foods are more expensive than conventionally produced foods. Are they worth it? Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no clear answer; it depends on your budget. Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. ÂŠ 2018 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Untreated warts can spread to other people Dear Mayo Clinic: Can an untreated wart on my hand spread to another person? Is treatment for it necessary if it’s small and doesn’t bother me? Answer: If left untreated, it is possible for warts to spread, and for the virus that causes warts to be passed to another person. Fortunately, most adults have developed immunity to the viruses that cause warts. Because of this, it’s unlikely that an adult would develop warts as a result of contact with a person who has a wart. Children are more susceptible, however, because their bodies may not have built up immunity to the virus. Warts are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus is quite common and has more than 100 types, which is why

there also are so many types of warts. Some strains of HPV are acquired through sexual contact. Most forms, however, are spread by casual contact or through shared objects, such as towels or washcloths. Over time, people develop immunity to most types of HPV that cause common warts. Their bodies are no longer affected by the virus, and it can’t take hold and grow. But it takes a long time for that to happen. As a result, warts are widespread in children and young adults because their bodies haven’t had enough time to become immune to this common virus. When the virus does take hold, it grows a lump of thickened skin, which is the wart. The skin on a wart will shed over time, just as normal skin sheds. When it does, that skin carries the virus with it.

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If someone touches the shed skin — whether directly through skin-to-skin contact or indirectly, for example, on the floor of a swimming pool or a carpet — then the virus could spread. This occurs only if the shed skin enters a crack, scrape or other opening of someone who has not developed immunity to HPV. When a wart begins to grow, HPV stimulates the skin to attract and grow its own blood supply and nerves, which makes the wart very hearty and less likely to go away on its own. Most warts will persist for one to two years if they are left untreated. Eventually, the body will recognize the virus and fight it off, causing the wart to disappear. While they remain, however, warts can spread very easily when people pick at them or when they are on the hands, feet or face.

Does the HPV vaccine help? The HPV vaccine Gardasil, which aims to prevent most types of cancer associated with HPV infection, also may prevent genital warts and possibly common warts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adolescents and teens ages 9 through 14 receive two injections of HPV vaccine at least six months apart. Teens and young adults who begin the vaccine series later (ages 15 through 26) should receive three

doses of the vaccine. Warts that are small and not bothersome don’t require treatment. If you don’t want to wait or if a wart is causing discomfort, overthe-counter remedies, such as salicylic acid, are available to treat warts. A dermatologist can offer additional options, which may include prescription antiviral creams, prescription therapies that irritate and eliminate warts, and medications that stimulate the immune system or disrupt the wart’s skin cell growth. Rarely, stubborn warts require minor surgery to cut away the tissue, or laser surgery to remove the wart.

Immune system concern If you are an adult who never had problems with warts but they suddenly begin to develop, see your doctor and ask to be screened for an immune system disorder. Adults usually don’t have new-onset, common warts. But if numerous warts begin to appear, the immune system may be malfunctioning, in which case I recommend a prompt evaluation. — Dawn Davis, M.D., Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. © 2018 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

Health Shorts Brain injuries raise dementia risk A large study offers more evidence of a link between traumatic brain injuries and dementia later in life, with repeated injuries and severe ones posing the greatest danger. Researchers analyzed 36 years of health records of 2.8 million people in Denmark, where a national health system makes it possible to explore connections in a far-reaching way. Overall, the risk was small. About 95 percent of people who suffered a brain injury never developed dementia. But a single severe brain injury increased the risk of later dementia by 35 percent compared with a person who never had brain trauma. A mild brain injury increased the risk by 17 percent. Each additional brain injury added to the danger.

Overall, the risk of dementia was 24 percent higher for people with a traumatic brain injury compared with people without one. The study was published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. A study of 3.3 million people in Sweden earlier this year showed similar results. Despite the size of the studies, they won’t settle scientific questions — or social debate — about brain injuries from sports, war, car crashes or domestic violence. Scientists know that a blow to the head can damage brain cells, but they don’t know exactly how that might lead to later cognitive problems, said lead researcher Dr. Jesse Fann of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. This kind of study can’t prove a cause-andeffect relationship, but researchers tried to eliminate the possible effect of age, gender, marital status and health, including depression. And they looked at other types of trauma, such as broken bones, and found that brain injuries were more closely tied to dementia. In a commentary in the journal, Dr. Carol

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Brayne of University of Cambridge’s medical school in England wrote that improvements in care mean more people are surviving brain injuries, making it crucial to understand more about their long-term effects. — AP

Stop-smoking drugs don’t pose heart risks Two popular stop-smoking drugs are as safe for the heart as nicotine patches and dummy pills, according to research requested by U.S. and European regulators. The results come from an extension of a big study of Chantix and Zyban that earlier found no increased risks for severe psychiatric problems including suicidal behavior. Those findings were reported in 2016. “It’s enormously reassuring,” said Dr. Nancy Rigotti, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Tobacco Research and Treatment Center. She was not involved in the research. “We now know it’s a lot safer to use these drugs to help people quit smoking than to continue smoking, Rigotti said. The original study involved 8,000 smokers randomly assigned to daily use of Pfizer’s Chantix, GlaxoSmithKline’s Zyban, nicotine

patches or dummy pills for 12 weeks. The extended study tracked about 2,400 participants for a year. During and after treatment, there were five heart-related deaths and 22 nonfatal heart attacks and strokes, pretty evenly distributed among the four groups. The few other heart problems also occurred at similar rates in each group. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. It included adult smokers from the United States, Canada, Mexico and several European countries. In the original study, by the last three weeks of treatment, 34 percent of Chantix users had quit smoking, 23 percent of nicotine patch users, almost 23 percent of Zyban users and 13 percent of those on dummy pills. Chantix blocks the effects of nicotine on the brain; Zyban is the brand name for a drug used for depression but it is thought to also affect brain regions linked with addictive behavior. Patches deliver small amounts of nicotine to help reduce smokers’ cravings. All are generally used short term. The patches and prescription pills can potentially raise blood pressure, and Chantix’s current packaging information includes warnings about a possible small increased risk for heart attacks and strokes in smokers with heart disease. — AP

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It’s not a Wheelchair... It’s not a Power Chair... It’s Better... It’s a Zinger! Meet the future of personal transportation. More and more Americans are reaching the age where mobility is an everyday issue. Whether from an injury or from the everyday aches and pains that come from getting older– getting around isn’t as easy as it used to be. You may have tried a power chair or a scooter. The Zinger is NOT a power chair or a scooter! The Zinger is quick and nimble, yet it is not prone to tipping like many scooters. Best of all, it weighs only 42 pounds and folds and unfolds with ease so you can take it almost anywhere, providing you with independence and freedom. Years of work by innovative engineers have resulted in a mobility device that’s truly unique. They created a battery that provides powerful energy at a fraction of the weight of most batteries. The Zinger features two steering levers, one on either side of the seat. The user pushes both levers down to go forward, pulls them both up to brake, and pushes one while pulling the other to turn to either side. This enables great mobility, the ability to turn on a dime and to pull right up to tables or desks. The controls are right on the steering arm so it’s simple to operate, and its exclusive footrest swings out of the way when you stand up or sit down. With its rugged yet lightweight aluminum frame, the Zinger is sturdy and durable yet lightweight and comfortable! What’s more, it easily folds up for storage in a car seat or trunk– you can even gate-check it at the airport like a stroller. Think about it, you can take your Zinger almost anywhere, so you don’t have to let mobility issues rule your life. It folds in seconds without tools and is safe

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Instantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; chicken takes the pressure off By Melissa Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Arabian Not a day goes by that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a recipe request or question about the Instant Pot. So, dear readers, today is the day for my starter recipe for you Instant Pot (Multi-Pot, etc.) fans. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll start by pointing out that we are really talking about here is an automated, easy-touse electric pressure cooker. I hear a collective sigh of recognition from a whole generation of home-cooks who have relied on a pressure cooker for years to deliver stews, chilis and braises to their families in quick order. Cooking under high pressure speeds up the process quite a bit, meaning you can have tender braised meat in minutes instead of hours, which can be a boon for weeknight meals. In case you decide to get an electric pressure cooker, here are a few tips. First, read the entire manual before you start cooking anything. It will explain how the cooker works, and give you step-by-step operating instructions. My second tip is to start with something easy that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be overcooked: stock or bone broth, for example. Load up the pressure cooker with bones and a few hunks of onion and celery, cover with water (donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overfill), and set the timed cooker (exactly how long is in â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you guessed it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; your manual. See,

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paying off already!). Next tip: Use less liquid than you would use stovetop, as evaporation is eliminated, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overcook. High pressure means you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easily open the lid to check on foodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress and texture as you would with a typical stovetop braise. Be extra aware of the possibility of overcooking if you are cooking tougher meat with tender vegetables. Finally, be aware that â&#x20AC;&#x153;instantâ&#x20AC;? is a bit of a misnomer. While â&#x20AC;&#x153;cook timeâ&#x20AC;? in any recipe is relatively short â&#x20AC;&#x201D; todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recipe for Instant Dijon Chicken only â&#x20AC;&#x153;cooksâ&#x20AC;? for 10 minutes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to add the time it takes to come to pressure (about 5-15 minutes) plus time for pressure release, if you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t manually releasing the pressure (which I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recommend for a newbie). This dish can also be made in a conventional pot on a stove. Combine all ingredients and simmer, covered, on low heat until meat is tender, about 60-75 minutes.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Instantâ&#x20AC;? Dijon Chicken Servings: 6 Start to finish: 40 minutes 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes 1/4 cup dry white wine 2 teaspoons dried tarragon (or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped)

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped, about 3/4 cup 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat 1/2 pound white button mushrooms, wiped clean and halved 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces 1/4 cup Dijon mustard Additional tarragon or chopped parsley for garnish, optional salt and pepper Special equipment: Electric Pressure Cooker (such as Instant Pot or Multi-Pot) Spray the inside of an electric pressure cooker with an olive oil mister for easy cleanup. Place the canned diced tomatoes, wine, tarragon and garlic at the bottom of the pot and stir with a wooden spoon to blend. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, cut each thigh into three pieces, and place on top of the tomato mixture. Place the halved mushrooms and cut carrot pieces on top of the chicken. Place the lid on, secure, and close the pressure valve. Set the timer to 10 minutes at high pressure. Once the cooking is done, allow the pressure cooker to sit for 10 minutes, allowing the pressure to release slowly (without moving

Instant Pots are high-tech pressure cookers.

the valve). Then, carefully turn the pressure valve to open, releasing any remaining pressure. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid into a small bowl and whisk in the Dijon mustard until creamy. Whisk the mustard mixture into the pot of cooked chicken. Top with parsley or additional tarragon, if desired. Serve with cooked cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash, quinoa or brown rice. Nutrition information per serving: 246 calories; 57 calories from fat; 6 g. fat (2 g. saturated; 0 g. trans fats); 142 mg. cholesterol; 941 mg. sodium; 11 g. carbohydrate; 2 g. fiber; 4 g. sugar; 32 g. protein.

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Money

FIX OR SELL A CLUNKER? Experts say you’ll almost always come out ahead by repairing your old car rather than selling it. Find out why LEAVING YOUR LEGACY Writing out a personal legacy statement can help guide you in years to come, and help your descendants understand what you stood for

How rising interest rates affect your money By Anya Kamenetz After years at rock bottom, interest rates are moving slowly and steadily upward. In late March, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate to a range between 1.50 percent and 1.75 percent, the highest point since the 2008 financial crisis. The median forecast reported is for another three nudges upward this year. In April, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s commitment to a “patient” approach to raising rates. Keeping interest rates low is a way of keeping money circulating in the economy, which promotes growth. This was a key strategy in recovery from the financial crisis. But the central bank also tries to prevent inflation, which can sometimes happen when growth is too fast. These days, with unemployment trending downward, there’s a consensus that it’s time to let interest rates go back up. However, by historical standards, rates are still very low.

How low? Well, between 1978 and 1991 they never went lower than 5 percent. Ten years of low interest rates is a long time — long enough that many will now have to update their working assumptions about how to handle their money. Here are some potential implications of rising interest rates: Borrowing will become more expensive. You may feel this in credit cards and auto loans, as well as in the rates available for student loan refinancing. Federal student loan interest rates are set by the Education Department each year on July 1 and pegged to the 10-year Treasury rate. Mortgages will get more expensive, and this could affect housing prices. Mortgage lending standards tightened after the crash, and we thankfully left behind the era of zero-percent-down NINJA loans (short for no income, no job, no assets). However, mortgage rates that started with the numeral 3 allowed more people to enter the housing

market. This meant more competition for housing and better prices for sellers. Today those average interest rates begin with the numeral 4 for a 30-year mortgage. If you’re selling, this could mean fewer buyers and a longer wait to get a price you like. If you’re buying, that dream home will cost you a bit more. Savings rates, now at rock bottom, should improve. For years it’s been nearly impossible to beat inflation by saving. As of this writing, the top rate on Bankrate.com for a plainJane savings account is 1.85 percent. The top rate on a five-year CD is 2.8 percent. Savings rates are getting better but are still not amazing. The effects on bonds are complex. When interest rates are rising, the price of fixedrate savings bonds will fall. As long as you can hold your bonds to maturity, you don’t have to worry too much [since you will receive the bond’s face value at maturity], but if you have to sell early, you could lose money. When it comes to bond funds, the falling prices will likely hurt

total returns but not yields (the interest payments on the bonds). The effects on the stock market are hard to predict. The most recent period of very low interest rates has been accompanied by a run-up in the market. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work the other way. Adjusting interest rates is supposed to prevent the nation’s economic car from overheating, so to speak, from out-of-control growth. If we were to overcorrect, into a recession, that would obviously by definition hurt the stock market. However, there is no ironclad relationship over time between interest rates and stock market performance. The stock market will react in the short term to each interest rate hike, but over a 10-year investment period you may not see much difference in your portfolio. Anya Kamenetz welcomes your questions at diyubook@gmail.com. © 2018 Anya Kamenetz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Update estate plan in light of new tax law By Eleanor Laise The new tax law has led some people to assume they can delete estate planning from their to-do lists. But that is a dangerous assumption. Yes, the new tax law roughly doubles the federal estate-tax exemption, to about $11.2 million per person — meaning the vast majority of people will not be subject to federal estate tax. But before you take your estate planner off speed dial, consider this: The sharp increase in the federal exemption amount means that old wills and trusts may be in urgent need of an update. What’s more, the law opens new opportunities for estate-planning techniques to save you a bundle on income tax. And it does nothing to diminish a host of other factors that drive many people to engage in estate planning, including creditor protection, defense against financial abuse, and maximizing bequests. Just to cement your estate planner’s job se-

curity, the new higher exemption amount sunsets at the start of 2026, when the old $5 million exemption — adjusted for inflation — reappears. And the law could be changed legislatively even sooner. “The bad part of this big exemption is most clients are saying, ‘Gee, I don’t have to do anything. I don’t have a problem anymore,’” said Martin Shenkman, an estate planner in Fort Lee, N.J. “They’re missing what estate planning is really about.”

Review regularly It’s always a good idea to review your estate plan regularly, regardless of legislative changes. Your net worth changes, you or your children get married or divorced, grandchildren are born — and old documents may no longer reflect your wishes. So rather than consigning estate planning to the back burner, the new law should actually light a fire under seniors who haven’t re-

viewed their documents in years. One snag that many seniors are likely to find in their estate plans is that old wills and trusts using formulas tied to the federal estate-tax exemption may now have unintended consequences. Consider this example from Colleen Carcone, director in the wealth-planning strategies group at TIAA: Let’s say you completed your estate plan in 2001, when the federal estate-tax exemption was $675,000. The plan stipulates that the amount that can pass free from federal estate tax should go to your children and everything else to your spouse. “That might have worked in 2001, when the kids would have gotten $675,000,” Carcone said. But now the kids will receive up to $11.2 million, and “you could unintentionally disinherit your spouse,” she said.

that their original purpose no longer seems compelling. Perhaps your estate plan said that at your death, your assets will pass into a “bypass” or “credit shelter” trust, which will pay income to your surviving spouse and ultimately pass assets to your children. It was once common for married couples to set up such trusts to avoid wasting a deceased spouse’s unused estate-tax exemption. But “portability,” introduced in 2011, allows a surviving spouse’s estate to use any estate-tax exemption amount that the first-todie spouse did not use. What’s more, beneficiaries inheriting assets from such trusts miss out on a big tax break. When passed directly through an estate, assets such as stocks and real estate get a “step up” in basis to the market value on the day the owner died — so heirs pay tax only on appreciation after that date. Assets passed

Revisit old trusts When reviewing old trusts, you may find

See ESTATE PLAN, page 16

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com | Law & Money

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

Money market funds offering juicier yields By Lisa Gerstner For years, money market mutual funds have paid practically nothing. But each time the Federal Reserve lifts short-term interest rates, yields on money market funds tend to rise in tandem. “That’s one of their most attractive qualities,” said Peter Crane, president of Crane Data, a money fund research company. Many money funds yield more than 1 percent, and Crane expects yields on some funds to surpass 2 percent this summer. Rates on savings accounts from banks have also been increasing, but have not kept pace with Fed rate hikes. Money market funds invest in high-quality, short-term securities, such as Treasury bills, commercial paper and certificates of deposit.

Although they carry little risk, they are not protected from losses by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Cash that must be in a safe place, such as an emergency fund, is best stashed in an FDIC-insured bank account. Money funds provide a convenient holding place for cash in, say, a linked brokerage account. You are more likely to get a higher payout if you invest in a money fund with low expenses. Vanguard Prime Money Market Investor (VMMXX), yielding 1.27 percent, has an expense ratio of 0.16 percent. Taxable money funds generally offer higher yields than tax-free municipal money funds. But if you’re in one of the top federal income tax brackets and live in a state with high income taxes, you may come out ahead

M ARK YO UR CALE NDAR

Ongoing

NEW RADIO STATION

Boomtown Richmond is a new locally-owned radio station founded by radio legend Jeff McKee of “Jeff and Jeff’ fame, one of Richmond’s most listened to morning shows in the ’90s. The station is unique in that four stations carry the one signal of Boomtown Richmond: WBTL at 1540 AM and its FM translator at 94.1 (which serves south of the river) and WUVN at 1450 AM and its FM translator at 92.9 (which serves north of the river). You can also listen to the station online. For more information, visit www.BoomtownRichmond.com.

with a tax-free fund. Look at the taxable-equivalent yield — the yield you’d need to earn on a comparable taxable fund after paying taxes — to match the yield of the tax-free fund. For example, Vanguard Municipal Money Market (VMSXX)

yields .92 percent, which is a taxable-equivalent yield of 1.55 percent for an investor in the 37 percent federal tax bracket. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

M A R K YO U R CAL EN DA R

June 19

CHESTERFIELD PLANNING MEETING

The Chesterfield County Planning Commission will hold a meeting on Tuesday, June 19 at 10 a.m. in the public meeting room at 10001 Iron Bridge Rd., Chesterfield. There will be lunch at noon. For more information, visit www.chesterfield.gov/plan or email planning@chesterfield.gov.

July 4

CHESTERFIELD 4TH OF JULY

Celebrate Independence Day with a spectacular fireworks display at dark, preceded by activities for children, food vendors and special entertainment on Wednesday, July 4 at Chesterfield County Fairgrounds, 10300 Courthouse Rd., Chesterfield. Bring blankets or lawn chairs. No alcohol, glass bottles, pets or personal fireworks allowed. All bags and coolers will be subject to search. Gates open at 5 p.m., and the road closes at 8:30 p.m. (or when the parking lots are full). Fireworks begin at dark. For more information, contact Mark Pinney at (804) 748-1992.

Ongoing

FREE MAMMOGRAMS

Reach Out for Life provides free mammograms for women in need in Central Virginia. Reach Out for Life is a nonprofit that raises its own funds to provide more than 500 free procedures annually, along with educating women about the need for screening procedures. For more information, visit www.reachoutva.org.

Law & Money | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

planning, Carcone said. Now, she said, “you have to look at both.” But before you scrap these trusts, consider that they can serve many purposes beyond avoiding federal estate tax, said Bernard Krooks, founding partner of Littman Krooks LLP in New York.

Estate plan From page 14 through bypass trusts don’t get the basis step-up. When the estate-tax exemption was lower, estate-tax planning often trumped income-tax

M ARK YO UR CAL EN DAR

June 14+

New ways to save on taxes

CONCERTS IN THE GARDEN

The Valentine Garden offers two concerts in June as part of its 2018 Music in the Garden series. Angelica Garcia & Lobo Marino will perform on Thursday, June 14, and Dave Watkins & the Prabir Mehta Trio will perform on Thursday, June 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission to the garden and the museum are free during the event, and beer and wine will be on sale. The Valentine is located at 1015 E. Clay St., Richmond. For more information or to RSVP, visit http://bit.ly/MusicinTheGarden2018.

Ongoing

Might you be subject to a state estate tax? Some state estate-tax exemption amounts are well below the federal level. Do you need the creditor protection that a trust can provide? What if you wind up in a nursing home and spend down all your assets, leaving nothing for heirs?

INDEPENDENT FILMS

The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University will host a series of free, public programs this summer to coincide with its inaugural exhibition “Declaration,” on view through Sept. 9. ICA Cinema, which debuts Wednesday, June 13, will use film as a catalyst for conversation and connection. The cinema program’s first series, “Declarations of INDIEpendence,” will feature films created by independent filmmakers from Richmond and throughout the country that explore the ways we make declarations as individuals and society as a whole. The series will take place the second Wednesday of each month through September in the ICA Auditorium at VCU, 601 W Broad St., Richmond. Admission is free, but registration is required. For more information, a full schedule, and to register, visit icavcu.org.

The new law also opens the door to trust strategies that provide immediate income-tax savings and asset protection while allowing you to maintain access to your money, Shenkman said. One current focus of estate-planning lawyers: Making an end-run around the new tax law’s $10,000 annual limit on state and local income and property tax deductions. A wealthy individual could put his house in a limited liability company, transfer interests in that LLC to multiple “non-grantor” trusts, each of which can qualify for its own $10,000 state and local tax deduction, and name his spouse as beneficiary of the trusts. The trusts can be set up in a state, such as Alaska, that has no state income tax. So the property is out of his estate, protected from creditors, and he has salvaged the property-tax deduction that was eliminated, Shenkman said. A non-grantor trust may also be a moneysaver for people who are charitably inclined, Shenkman said. Let’s say you give $10,000 a year to your church. The new tax law boosted

the standard deduction to $12,000 for an individual, up from $6,350 previously, so you may get no tax benefit for those donations because you no longer itemize deductions. But if you transfer investments into a nongrantor trust, naming your children, grandchildren and charities you wish to benefit as beneficiaries, the trust could earn $10,000 in income and give $10,000 to the church, “and you’ve got a dollar-for-dollar tax deduction, because the trust doesn’t have a standard deduction like individuals,” Shenkman said. When updating your documents, don’t neglect durable powers of attorney. Many seniors create powers of attorney giving a trusted agent the authority to manage their finances if they become incapacitated — including the power to make financial gifts to avoid estate tax. That gifting power may have made sense when the federal estate-tax exemption was much lower. But given today’s higher exemption, broad gift provisions should not be part of some powers of attorney, Shenkman said, because they leave seniors vulnerable to financial abuse. If you still want your agent to have gifting powers, Shenkman said, consider reining in that authority — perhaps by restricting gift recipients to trusts that you have established. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

What to do with an older car: fix or sell? By Philip Reed You’re looking at a $1,200 repair estimate for your ailing car when an ad catches your eye: a brand new set of wheels for a mere $450 a month. At first, dumping your old car might seem like a no-brainer — and you can’t help picturing how good you would look in that new car. But automotive experts say you’ll almost always come out ahead — at least financially — by fixing old faithful. There are, however, other important considerations when deciding whether it’s time to say farewell. “Even though the repair cost might hurt, you really have to think about buying a new car as a tremendously more expensive proposition,” said Jim Manelis, head of direct lending for Chase Auto Finance. At the very least, for a reliable used car, expect to spend a minimum of $2,000, plus tax and registration fees, said Mark Holthoff, editor at Klipnik.com, a community website for used car enthusiasts. Depending on the severity of your car’s problems, “You can buy a lot of repairs for that kind of money,” Holthoff said. Of course, there does come a point when it isn’t worth pouring money into a beater.

Where’s the breaking point? “Start with the scale of the repair,” Manelis

said. “Is it a $1,200 fix, or is it a $5,000 fix?” Then, look up the current value of your car using an online pricing guide like Kelley Blue Book. When repair costs start to exceed the vehicle’s value or one year’s worth of monthly payments on a replacement, it’s time to break up with your car, according to automotive site Edmunds and Consumer Reports, the product review magazine. As an example, say you’ve already spent $1,500 on repairs and now need a new engine for $3,500, and instead you could get a new or more reliable used car for $400 a month ($4,800 a year). Beyond repair costs, Consumer Reports said to factor into your decision the savings from a new car with better fuel efficiency, and the new car’s loss in value over time. Manelis also suggests thinking about your current car after repairs. Once it’s fixed up, what will it be worth and how long will it continue to run reliably? To help answer the question of fixing a car or buying a new one, do a cost-per-mile comparison with the “Fix-it or Trade-it” calculator created by the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association. However, Ron Montoya, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds, said there’s another equally important consideration: peace

of mind. “If breakdowns become frequent and you feel unsafe on the road, that’s the time to replace it.”

Deciding what to do To make the best decision for your situation, consider the pros and cons of both options. Fixing your car • Faster than shopping for and buying a new vehicle. • No change in insurance costs. • The car’s history is known. • You won’t waste time and money advertising and selling your car. • But your repaired car might soon need more repairs. Buying a newer car • Purchase can include warranties and sometimes maintenance. • Recent cars have advanced safety features. • Younger cars are more reliable. • You’ll stop wasting time schlepping to the repair garage. • But a new car loan is a long-term financial commitment.

If you decide to fix up “It’s imperative to have a mechanic that you trust” before you move forward with any repairs, Holthoff said. For example, the service department at a dealership might be more interested in frightening you with repair bills to get you to buy a new car. Once the car is purring again, Holthoff said to continue driving it long enough to make up for the cost of the repairs. Later, if you decide to sell, you can do so with confidence once the car proves itself reliable again, and you’ve reaped the benefit of the repairs.

If you decide to break up Even if you decide to part ways with your car, you’ll have to get it running again or sell it as-is for less money. If you can, make the repairs, then repay yourself after you sell the car. “Honesty is the best policy,” Manelis said about selling a car with issues. Get an estimate for repairs and show that to a prospective buyer, then tell them you’re willing to reduce the price of the car by the amount they’ll have to spend to fix it. — Nerdwallet via AP

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JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Thinking, and writing, about your legacy By Laura A. Roser About half of Americans create at least one New Year’s resolution at the start of a new year, and most of those will have become a distant memory within months. But something you do at any time, and that can make a meaningful difference, is to draw up your own Personal Legacy Statement. It’s like an estate plan, but instead of focusing on finances, it focuses on what kind of life you want to lead.

Have you thought about your legacy? Every hour, every day and every year, you make small decisions that lead you toward becoming a certain kind of person. Many of these “decisions” are made on autopilot as a result of habits you’ve picked up: You instinctively reach for a cup of coffee in the morning, you check your phone whenever it dings, you tense up when your spouse uses that certain tone of voice. These habits create the behavioral trend of your life. But what are they leading you toward?

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes about beginning with the end in mind. If you don’t know your destination, it’s likely you’ll end up going in circles. One of the best ways I’ve found to create an anchor or point of destination for your life is to create a Personal Legacy Statement. A Personal Legacy Statement goes beyond losing weight or saving a few extra bucks for the future. It is a declaration of the kind of person you hope to become, the values you wish to live by, and how you expect to impact others. It provides a vision that directs those tiny decisions that make up who you are. If, for example, you specify in your Personal Legacy Statement that you would like to be a good parent, you may start changing some things in your day-to-day life, like putting down the cellphone at dinner or reading to your daughter before bed rather than binging on the latest Netflix series. These small acts make a tremendous impact and lead to a legacy you can be proud of. Without this kind of direction, it’s easy to let entropy take over and just go with the flow —

Write a letter to the editor. See page 2.

leading you to leave a legacy of, well, not much.

Writing your statement A Personal Legacy Statement takes introspection. Spend some time journaling about the questions below and then craft a concise — no more than one page — statement that encompasses the attributes of the kind of person you hope to be known as. 1. Identify your roles. Determine how you wish to represent yourself in the following five roles: • Family Role — How do you wish to connect with and love those in your family? • Social Role — How do you want to interact with friends and acquaintances? • Career Role — How do you want to impact others through your work? How do you find passion and enjoyment in your work? • Community Role — How will you contribute to your local community? Do you have a passion for helping a certain group of people or furthering a cause? • Spiritual Role — How will you nourish your spirit or need for creativity, connection, rest and balance? How will you grow yourself and care for your body and well-being? 2. Define your principles. Think about what values and morals will

help you fulfill your various roles. Consider these questions as you’re writing down the values that matter to you: • What principles are important to follow to fulfill the roles you’ve outlined for yourself? • Which character attributes are most important to you? • Are there personal weaknesses or struggles that will make it hard for you to fulfill your legacy if you don’t address them? 3. Specify how you wish to share your legacy. Memories fade quickly; what gets remembered is what is recorded and shared. Consider these questions when thinking about how you wish to share your legacy: • How will you record and document meaningful experiences? • How will you let others know how much they mean to you? • How will you mentor others or pass on your wisdom or skills? To view some examples of Personal Legacy Statements, visit www.paragonroad.com/ personal-legacy-statement-examples/. A good Personal Legacy Statement can serve as the vision for your path forward for 2018 and beyond. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

Travel

Leisure &

Books to inspire trips in the great outdoors, from National Parks to the Appalachian Trail. See story on page 22.

Mississippi’s resilient Gulf Coast beckons and dumped tar balls on the beach for several years. Disasters like these change you, one local said, adding, “We may never get over it.” Changed maybe, but when life gave them “lemons,” they “made lemonade” and they are still making it. Mississippians have rebuilt and repaired. Some stately antebellum mansions survived, and many iconic live oaks, hundreds of years old, still stand, nature’s symbols of resilience.

PHOTO BY ROB HAINER

By Glenda C. Booth Exploring Mississippi’s 26-mile Gulf Coast is a sojourn to small, laid-back towns, sugar-white beaches, artsy enclaves, “aromatic” fishing villages, and even a whiff of William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Life moves at a slow southern pace, and friendly locals greet out-of-towners with a hearty, “Hi ya’ll!” Mississippi Gulf people are proudly resilient. Hurricane Camille smashed into the state in 1969 with 200 mph winds, cracked levees, felled power lines, wreaked havoc and left many bad memories. A 20- to 30-foot tidal surge flooded homes, stores, roads and graveyards. Then, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared in, a monster that left massive destruction behind. Called the worst storm in 300 years of recorded history, Katrina severed casino barges from their moorings, heaving them onto buildings and highways. A 30-foot storm surge slammed white caps into homes, carried roofs away and splintered buildings. Pelicans rode 25- to 30-foot waves over the elevated interstate highway. People still talk about watching their cars float away. Then came BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest marine spill in the petroleum industry’s history. It poisoned marine life, blackened seaside wetlands, oiled birds,

America’s Riviera Once called “the American Riviera,” the Gulf Coast — the largest manmade beach in the world — is 26 miles long (62 if you count all the inlets and tributaries). A string of 12 high-rise, beachfront casino resorts sprout all along the coastline. Restaurant menus feature shrimp and grits, catfish, crawfish, oysters and fried green tomatoes, exuding hints of New Orleans cuisine. “You come across the bridge from Louisiana and your blood pressure goes down,” said Nikki Moon, owner of the Bay Town Inn, about her hometown, Bay St. Louis. With a population of 10,000, it has an “an ole timey feel,” and is “the gentle way to go about life,” where people walk to restaurants, and chug around in golf carts to see the latest

Situated on the Mississippi Sound along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, the Biloxi lighthouse rises over the city’s welcome center, a replica of a pre-Civil War mansion that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Built in 1847, the lighthouse has become a symbol of the city’s resilience, withstanding Katrina and other major hurricanes.

PHOTO BY ANDREW B. HALL

local pottery, jewelry, sculpture and paintings. Chainsaw sculptor Dayle K. Lewis transformed once-living live oaks into “angel trees” — sculptures that honor hurricane survivors. One served as a raft for three Katrina survivors and their dog. Biloxi, population 44,000, is a centrally-located base for branching out to coastal points. Across from the Lighthouse, which survived Katrina, the restored visitor center is a replica of the Katrina-smashed RobinsonDantzler antebellum mansion. Here you’ll learn about the area’s Gilded Age, when the affluent had an active social scene in waterfront mansions, many coming on excursion trains from New Orleans. Woodrow Wilson vacationed at Pass Christian at Beaulieu, the Dixie White House.

Go fish Seagulls flock around a shrimp boat off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Seafood is one of the area’s prime industries, and visitors can take tours on some of the boats, and visit a museum devoted to seafood, ships and other maritime pursuits.

Coastal Mississippi is all about water, good and bad. Biloxi claims it was the seafood cap-

ital of the world in the 1800s. “Seafood built Biloxi,” trumpets one exhibit in the town’s Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum, where the narrative starts with Biloxi’s 1699 founding, when settlers looking for gold found oysters instead. Video interviews with old timers recall grueling seafood factory work from the 1890s to 1920s. The museum features boat building, net making, shrimping with sails and trawls, and fishing equipment, such as oyster dredgers, engines, shrimp peelers and marine blacksmithing. Fishing is a hard life, weathered seamen explain, but they work hard, play hard, bounce back and survive life’s curveballs. Captain Mike Moore’s shrimping excursion on the Sailfish is a spirited lesson in marine mysteries, from jellyfish to bottlenose dolphins to pelicans. The self-described “AmSee GULF COAST, page 20

Leisure & Travel | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

ture coat” that he wore when Union forces caught up with him in Georgia. In a rush, he had grabbed his wife’s coat.

Gulf Coast From page 19 bassador of the Gulf Coast” opens by saying that passengers may need a translator to decipher his Cajun accent. Using a 16-by-35-foot net, he drags the bottom and calls out the critters he brings up. On shrimp, he gabs, “Everything wants to eat them.” Another factoid: “White and brown shrimp grow one inch every seven to 10 days.” Or shrimp anatomy: “Their antennas are for smelling. They hide in the mud and smell what goes by. It’s their radar.” At Quality Poultry and Seafood, visitors ogle mounds of today’s catch. In operation since the mid-1940s, it also hawks pickled quail eggs, and seasonings for gumbo, crab and shrimp boil, étoufée and crawfish pie. One historic Katrina survivor in Biloxi is Beauvoir, built in 1852 and the last home of the only president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, also known as a “memorial to the Lost Cause.” Hoop-skirted docents reverently describe the Davises’ genteel life in Beauvoir from 1877 to 1889, and explain that Jefferson Davis’s 1889 funeral was the largest ever in New Orleans, when 50,000 mourners walked 18 miles to the Metairie Cemetery. The adjacent museum memorializes Confederate soldiers with displays of wagons, uniforms, guns and battle scenes. Prominently displayed are Davis’s catafalque, and the “cap-

Art along the Gulf For a more modern twist, the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum is a four-gallery complex designed by Frank O. Gehry of signature Gehry rounded pods and gray steel. The museum is known for the work of quirky, one-of-a-kind artist, George Ohr, “the mad potter” — an eccentric father of 10, who potted from 1857 to 1918. “I want every pot to be itself,” he said, “no two alike.” Made of local Tchoubouffa River clay, his thin “mud babies” have crumpled edges, loops and curves. Some, seen as offbeat in Ohr’s day, have sold for as much as $100,000. The museum also recounts another resilience story, local African Americans who created their own self-contained town within the town of Biloxi during the segregation era — a community with its own barbers, banks and baseball team, the Dodgers. Civil rights hero Medgar Evers went to Biloxi for the 1960 “wade-in” to desegregate the beaches. Unfortunately, this civil rights action became known as “Bloody Sunday” because a mob attacked the demonstrators as the Biloxi police silently stood by. A court decision finally desegregated Biloxi’s beaches in 1968. Ocean Springs is a contrast of artsy refinement and juicy, downhome eating, coastal Mississippi style.

The Walter Anderson Museum of Art spotlights the work of a man some called a genius, others a schizophrenic. He was prolific, constantly drawing as a child, and later painting four or five watercolors a day on typewriter paper. To better understand hurricanes, he rowed 16 miles to Horn Island and tied himself to a tree during a storm where he felt free. Anderson rode his bike all over the country, traveled the world, and studied snakes, birds, raccoons, butterflies and crabs. One of his series features cats’ sinuosity and kinesiology. The museum houses “the Little Room,” his totally private space where he painted murals on all the walls and created his own world. Tucked in the woods nearby is Shearwater Pottery, a family compound founded in 1928 by Peter Anderson, Walter’s brother, and still home to family potters. Katrina destroyed the showroom, but the Andersons rebounded and rebuilt. They make glazed figurines, decorative tiles, thrown ware and cast ware. Bozo’s Seafood and Market in Ocean Springs is aptly named. It’s a noisy madhouse of long, communal tables, where locals in bib overalls and t-shirts chat with outsiders, as everyone crams down bulging po’boys and mountainous fish sandwiches, all washed down with Dr. Peppers. The Pascagoula River Audubon Center at Moss Point offers a different water experi-

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ence, a winding ride through the swamps and bayous of the Pascagoula River — the largest free-flowing river in the U.S., and named “the singing river” by French explorers. Guide Bennie McCoy of McCoy’s River and Marsh Tours explained that the area was once part of the Republic of West Florida, as he pointed out Yaupon hollies, bald cypresses, alligators, egrets, bald eagles, ospreys and turtles sunning on logs. The French named the gray, stringy epiphyte dangling from trees “Spanish moss” because the Spanish had beards, McCoy explained.

Non-stop gaming Gamblers have a wide range of choices, with 12 multi-roomed casinos hosting 24hour gaming and Vegas-type entertainment, such as the Temptations, Four Tops, Louanne Rimes and Michael Bolton. Every casino has a spa and pool, and each has a special allure. Biloxi’s Beau Rivage has stunning inside gardens. Hollywood in Bay St. Louis has a “lazy river” for tubers that winds around sun decks and to a “swim-up” bar. The Scarlet Pearl in D’Iberville touts an indoor, 18-hole, miniature golf course with an “erupting volcano.” The Casino Hopper Trolley takes patrons to Biloxi’s seven casinos day and night, every 25 minutes. While the BP spill tainted the beaches, and Katrina unleashed its devastating fury, many See GULF COAST, page 21

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

What to know about flying with your pet By Pat Mertz Esswein In late March, a dog died after being stowed in its carrier in an overhead bin on a United flight. Soon after, United announced that it would suspend reservations for cargo transport of pets while it reviewed its program, a process it completed at the end of April. Airlines publish guidelines and rules on their websites for traveling with or transporting pets. The rules differ for domestic and international travel, as well as for service animals. Here are some highlights for domestic travel:

Book early Space for pets carried on or checked as cargo is limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis (excluding service ani-

Gulf Coast From page 20 Yaupon hollies, palms, azaleas and live oaks persisted. “Hurricanes are part of life,” one local philosophized. “Your possessions are not life.” Deal with it and move on, they say. A case in point: The Tatonut Shop in Ocean Springs miraculously dodged Katrina,

mals), and traveling with pets isn’t allowed on all types of aircraft. Call ahead to check your itinerary and book your pet. Service animals, and emotional or psychiatric support animals, fly free. They must fit in your lap, at your feet or under the seat, and they can’t block the aisle or an emergency exit. Owners are generally required to notify the airline at least 48 hours before travel, and submit a note from a doctor or licensed medical professional confirming the passenger’s disability and need. United and Delta also require owners to submit a signed health certificate or immunization record for the animal, plus a signed confirmation of animal training. Airlines prohibit puppies or kittens younger than 8 weeks from traveling. They have varying requirements for proof of vaccination and but the supply line from New Orleans was interrupted and owners had FedEx bring flour from Birmingham. Uncertain when the next batch would arrive and wasting nothing, they threw leftover dough into the fryer and created odd-shaped morsels, dubbing them Katrina pieces, which eager customers still snarf up today. Maybe it’s their hurricane prayer that’s made

health certificates from a licensed vet. Carriers and crates must be sized and constructed to certain standards to ensure the animal’s comfort and safety. Even if a carrier or crate from a retailer is labeled “airline approved,” check the specific airline’s requirements. If you can, acclimate pets to their carrier or crate two to three weeks before departure.

Carry on and cargo You can carry on a dog or cat if it fits in a carrier small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. The “kennel” counts as one piece of carry-on luggage. Airlines will charge a flat, one-way fee of $95 to $125 at check-in for each segment of your flight. American and Delta charge $200 per crate for cargo customers. United charges by weight, from $201 for 10 pounds or less, to them so resilient: “Lord bless and save the Gulf Coast, Lord help us survive this oil spill, help us save our golden Gulf Coast; let the hurt and pain be over, Lord, bless and save our Gulf Coast.” And then they say, “Amen,” and “Y’all come back, ya heah?”

If you go The most convenient airport is Gulfport-

$630 for 150 to 200 pounds (and $60 more to go to or return from Hawaii). Many airlines prohibit the transportation of brachycephalic breeds — short-nosed dogs and cats, such as pugs, boxers and Himalayans — that are prone to respiratory problems that may be exacerbated by stress and changes in air quality and temperature in a cargo hold. Overweight animals and those with preexisting health conditions may not fare well in cargo, either. The good news is that pet injury or death during air travel is rare. In 2016, 40 out of 506,994 animals transported as cargo on major passenger airlines died or were injured during the trip, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Biloxi, http://www.flygpt.com. The least expensive fares for early July require flying with one airline there and another on the return. For example, a combination of United and Delta flights is $376 from Byrd International Airport. Going roundtrip on Delta is $425. Visitor information including lodging, events, attractions and tours, can be found at www.gulfcoast.org.

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Leisure & Travel | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Books that explore the great outdoors By Dinah Rokach As the travel season approaches, it’s wise to consider your choices carefully before embarking. Here are some books to make the planning easier. Even an armchair traveler will be mesmerized by the many scenic destinations described in these books. Let your imagination soar, whether on a flight of fancy or a real life adventure. Your Guide to the National Parks: The Complete Guide to All 59 National Parks, second edition, by Michael Joseph Oswald, 704 pages including 160 maps, 450 images and 50 hiking tables. Stone Road Press softcover, 2017. Mike Oswald’s Guide to the National Parks provides a wealth of information for those planning a trip to any one of our country’s magnificent and wondrous natural treasures. For each of the 59 parks, you’ll find intricate maps, detailed information on hiking trails rated by difficulty, data on campsites, and sports activities for all ages. Advisories on seasonal weather conditions, lists of lodgings, and transportation logistics are included. Directions to the park and suggested itineraries within the park as well as nearby attractions are enumerated. The graphics are easy to follow and in-

clude “places not to miss” indicated right on the map. The photographs are beautiful. Websites, addresses and contact information are provided. Oswald provides an insider’s perspective with much more information than on a typical guided tour or in a standard guidebook. The author also rates parks, and includes many less crowded sites that are worth visiting. The first edition deservedly won the Benjamin Franklin Award of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award and the National Outdoor Book Award. The second edition was put to press before the Senior Pass price increase was announced. Be aware the cost is now $80 lifetime or $20 annually. Families on Foot: Urban Hikes to Backyard Treks and National Park Adventures, by Jennifer Pharr Davis and Brew Davis, 256 pages with color photographs. Falcon in partnership with the American Hiking Society, softcover, 2017. The American Hiking Society’s Families on Foot is a beautifully illustrated guide to experiencing great nature walks — whether on local trails or in national parks. It’s all-encompassing, with recommendations on gear, food, packing tips, suggested hikes, and even games to play

while walking. The photography is breathtaking. Checklists are provided throughout. Interspersed are short essays describing personal stories of happy hikers. Safety on the trail is addressed in detail. Recommendations are provided for appropriate outings tailored to diverse age groups and different levels of fitness. Included is information on finding appropriate hikes and nature walks for toddlers, teenagers, seniors, disabled youngsters and individuals with medical restrictions. And the Davises provide websites galore and lists of apps to download to make your adventure more accessible. Best Hikes on the Appalachian Trail: Mid-Atlantic, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, by Matt Willen, 296 pages. Menasha Ridge Press and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 5 x 8 inches, paperback, 2017. This indispensable Best Hikes guide covers in a concise, well-organized format 43 dayhikes, ranging from one hour to all day in duration, on nearby portions of the Appalachian Trail. It provides timely and pertinent information to make your outing pleasurable and safe. Detailed maps show elevations, GPS trail-

head coordinates and parking spaces at the starting point of the suggested hikes. Hikes are described by their length, duration and difficulty. Trails are also rated by author Matt Willen in terms of scenery, condition, the degree to which they are child-friendly, and how solitary they are as far as the number of fellow hikers one may encounter. Access by car, the presence of restrooms, places of historic note and natural wonders are listed. The best hikes for birders, where to encounter the most interesting geological formations, the most inspiring views, and trails with lakes, streams and waterfalls are enumerated. Overlooks, nearby attractions and suggested side trips are cited for each hike where relevant. Guidance as to monthly climate conditions, advice on how to dress, descriptions of essential gear, and information on trail etiquette are thoughtfully included. Chapters are grouped by state. Black and white photos of the focal point of each of the 43 hikes begin each chapter. Appendices provide websites and phone numbers of state parks, forests and public lands authorities traversed by the Appalachian Trail, as well as contact information for local trail clubs.

M A R K YO U R C ALE NDAR

June 23

LIVING HISTORY

The Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia (CHSV) will hold a living history event at Historic Point of Rocks Park, 1011 Point of Rocks Rd., on Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event will include a commemorative marker dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. to honor the soldiers buried on the property during the 1864 Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Point of Rocks was the original burial ground for 43 Confederate and 1,294 Union soldiers who died there. Parking will be on site at Historic Point of Rocks Park located at 1011 Point of Rocks Rd. Admission is free, and food and drinks will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Gina Love at (804) 796-7131 or visit www.chesterfieldhistory.com.

June 23

PRIMITIVE SKILLS WORKSHOP

Join Henricus Historical Park and the Southeast Virginia Primitive Skills Group for “Trades of Antiquity,” a workshop of historic life skills such as flint knapping, fire starting, wood turning, broom weaving, soap making and more, on Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. See demonstrations and examples of artifacts, which are available for purchase. The workshop will take place at Henricus Historical Park, 251 Henricus Park Rd., Chester. Admission is $9 for adults; $7 for children age 3 to 12. Henricus patrons are free. For more information, call (804) 748-1611 or visit http://bit.ly/TradesofAntiquity.

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TEXT 911 FOR HELP

Getting help in an emergency is now faster and easier for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in the Richmond capital region. As of June 4, those who are not able to call 911 can send a text message to 911 for emergency assistance in Richmond, Chesterfield County and Henrico County. This service already is available in Colonial Heights and Hanover County. Provide the exact location in the text. You will receive a reply to confirm. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/Text911Richmond.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018

Style

Arts &

Colorful foliage, such as this polka dot plant, can brighten gardens all season long. See story on page 24.

Batteau festival celebrates the James River By Catherine Brown Boaters piloting 15 to 20 shallow, flat-bottomed boats (called batteaux) will launch on the James River in Lynchburg in mid-June, slowly paddling 120 miles until they arrive at Maiden’s Landing west of Richmond a week later. For the past 33 years, members of the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society have been navigating the James River on such batteaux. For the society’s yearly James River Batteau Festival, crew members don colonialera garb and commemorate the role of the James in our region’s history. Batteaux were first adapted from Indian dugout canoes in the 1740s. Then, around 1770, brothers Anthony and Benjamin Rucker of

Amherst County created a new type of batteau designed to easily navigate shallow, swift waters. According to legend, Thomas Jefferson attended the Ruckers’ batteau launch on the Tye River, and even helped them get a patent for their creation. In early America, hundreds of batteaux travelled the James River to sell supplies like tobacco, iron and flour. But with the development of the canal system and then railroads, batteaux became obsolete, and their history was lost for hundreds of years.

Origins of the festival Then, during construction in downtown Richmond in 1983, batteaux were uncovered

in the bottom of the Turning Basin of the James. This area was specially constructed so that, as the name suggests, boats could turn around, because Richmond’s canals were otherwise too narrow in which to do so. The recreation director of Fluvanna County at the time of that discovery, Joe Ayers, built his own batteau with some of his friends and traveled on it to Richmond. Two years later, he organized the first Batteau Festival. According to Gail Timberlake, past president of the Society, the early festivals were races, with crews using oars to travel faster and even changing members midway through to stay competitive. In its current form, the Festival is no longer

a race. Rather, as Timberlake describes it, it is “an eight-day journey spent catching up with batteau family members and enjoying the river.” The festival often is a family affair. Some crews bring their children along, and many of the younger crew members grew up participating in the event. This helps fulfill the Society’s stated mission, which is to “celebrate the cultural heritage of the river basin in music, song, dance, and storytelling…[with] a folklife festival uniting rural communities along 120 miles of the James River.” See BATTEAU, page 25

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A palette of foliage colors for your garden By Lela Martin Although many plants tempt you with showy flowers, those blossoms may be shortlived. If, however, you choose summer annuals and year-round perennials with fabulous foliage, their pleasure won’t “leave” as quickly.

Golden glow Yellow leaves warm up a garden. Combine them with plants having orange or red blossoms and leaves to heat things up. Golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra “Aureola” or “All Gold”) is good in partial shade, as are gorgeous hostas “Sun Power” and “Gold Standard.” Both are perennials in our USDA Hardiness Zone 7. Several varieties of annual coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides), such as “Jillian” and “Sizzler,” also burn with golden color. Plant any of these glamorous selections en masse, or use as a gleaming accent in the garden.

dusty miller (Artemisia stelleriana) and the annual licorice plant (aka trailing dusty miller) (Helichrysum petiolare). Perennial lamb’s ear (Stacchys byzantina) is a sultry silver with a wooly texture.

Vivacious variegation Coleus is the best example of an annual with versatile leaf variation — from subtle to showy. With multiple color combinations, a variety of leaf shapes, and textures ranging from sleek to fuzzy, coleus is a vibrant choice. Selecting companion plants usually involves choosing one of the colors in a variegated leaf. Caladiums grow from tubers which produce sizable heart-shaped or angel-winged leaves in greens, whites and pinks. They typically have contrasting borders or veining, and prefer partial shade to full sun. The annual polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) looks paint-splattered. You may be infatuated by the patterns of varieties in the Splash and Confetti series.

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If you’re obsessed with purple, remember it makes a strong statement. Pick plants with purple leaves to pair with plants in yellow or blue-gray hues. Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), a sun-loving annual, has dramatic purple leaves with iridescent highlights. Another sunny annual, purple fountain grass (Pennisetum purpureum), sports fuzzy purple plumes. Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas “Burgundy”), also an annual, provides a cascading reddish-purple trail from the edges of containers. Even darker, black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus “Nigrescens”) thrives in sun to partial shade year-round in Zones 5–10.

Seductive silver Silver, gray and white leaves lighten up a shady garden. Under trees, dead nettle (Lamiastrum galeobdolon) stars as a silvery groundcover that is deer-resistant. The stunning Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum), a deciduous fern, has a touch of green and burgundy in its silvery-gray fronds. The heart-shaped leaves of new cultivars of brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla), such as “Jack Frost,” shimmer in a shade garden too. Silver, gray and white also combine well with most other colors. Perennial wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) exhibits silvery fernlike foliage and can be used in a container or as a low border. It thrives in heat and direct sunlight, as do

Fifty shades of green Using a mixture of texture and shape, you can create an interesting garden with only gradations of green. A shady location is ideal for hostas, which range in color from chartreuse to emerald to blue. The shape of hosta leaves can vary from oval, to round, heart-shaped, or swordshaped. Leaf texture varies too, from smooth to deeply ridged. Lush feathery ferns make a verdant statement in a shade garden as well. Showy oversized elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) provide a touch of the tropics in filtered sunlight. Chartreuse creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) and sweet potato vine (“Sweet Caroline Light Green”) pop when they drip over the edge of a container or form a groundcover. Growing from three to six feet tall, canna is a showstopper, producing tropical foliage and bright blooms. Canna thrives in full sun. Its leaves are typically green; however, they can be bronze, maroon or variegated. Although the main function of a leaf is to provide chlorophyll to feed the plant, luscious leaves tantalize us with sensuous pleasures. Lela Martin is a Master Gardener with the Chesterfield County office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She is also the co-chair of the 2018 Bumblebee Jamboree, held at Maymont on June 16 from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. See http://bit.ly/2018BBJ.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com | Arts & Style

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2018 PHOTO COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA CANALS AND NAVIGATIONS SOCIETY

Crew members dressed in Colonial-era clothes will spend a week paddling down the James River in shallow boats called batteaux, ending up at Maiden’s Landing on June 23. The annual James River Batteau Festival is hosted by the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society.

Batteau From page 23

Writing about the river Timberlake first got involved with the Society after her husband and father-in-law built a boat together. He asked if she and her mother would be willing to feed the crews breakfast before they started the race, and they agreed. “My mother, Virginia King, was queen of the support crew and affectionately called Batteau Mama,” Timberlake said Once she started feeding the crew, Timberlake got “river fever” and decided to participate as a crew member on the Lady’s Slipper, which started out as an all-female boat. A particularly memorable journey in 2009 inspired her to become an author. That year, the Lady’s Slipper got into trouble along Seven Islands. Fortunately, a crew of young men came by and helped them maneuver out of their tough spot. That experience impacted Timberlake so much that she decided to write a series of children’s books (The Rescue of the Lady’s Slipper and two others so far) that provide historical background and insight into the experience of traveling the James on a batteau. Throughout much of the year, Timberlake travels to local schools to share her stories.

How you can participate This year’s Batteau Festival begins on June 16 in Lynchburg and continues on to the towns of Stapleton, Bent Creek, Wingina, Howardsville, Scottsville, Slate River and Cartersville. Boats finish up their journey when they roll into Maiden’s Landing on June 23. Each boat has a crew of anywhere from four to a dozen people. Every evening, the

crews stop at one of the historic river towns to camp out. At each stop, festival participants enjoy spending time together, playing music and sharing stories about the batteaux. The campsites at each stop are open and accessible to the public. On June 20, when the crews arrive in the historic town of Scottsville, visitors are welcome to spend the afternoon and evening there enjoying food trucks, music, shopping and historical sites. Visitors can also watch the festival conclude at Maiden’s Landing. Powhatan State Park will host a party that day with educational programs and demonstrations, enabling families a perfect vantage point from which to see the batteaux as they approach the end of their journey. To learn more, see http://vacanals.org/ batteau.

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N O S I E S T T O O I V Y

A R C R E O E F L O A P A M E P A N U R E S R E O M S A N A O D L E N A N N E C A E S C E S T

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CLASSIFIEDS FiftyPlus is now accepting classified ads in the following categories: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; Financial; For Sale; Health; Home/Handyman Services; Legal Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Real Estate for Sale/Rent; TV/Cable; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. Ad text and prepayment due by 20th of preceding month. Private party ads are $10 for 25 words; 25 cents for each additional word. Business ads are $25 for 25 words; 50 cents for each additional word. Questions? Call (804) 673-5203. Send your ad text with check or money order, payable to The Beacon, to: FiftyPlus Classifieds; The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227

JUNE 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

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ACCOUSTIC COFFEEHOUSE

A CHORUS LINE

Richmond Triangle Players presents A Chorus Line, on stage now through Saturday, July 7. This landmark musical celebrates those unsung heroes of the American musical theater — the underpaid, highly trained chorus dancers who back up the star sand often make them look even more talented than they are. Tickets cost $10 to $35. The Robert Moss Theatre is located at 1300 Altamont Ave., Richmond. For more information, visit www.rtriangle.org or call (804) 346-8113.

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Across 1. Candy Land and Candy Crush 6. One who pushes back on pushers 10. Text response to intrusive questions 14. In flames 15. Sandwich cookie, left to right 16. Sandwich cookie, right to left 17. Maui-based dental practice, perhaps 20. Before, poetically 21. Darth Vader, to his childhood pals 22. “I’m just ___” (Lee Harvey Oswald’s denial) 23. Line of clothing 26. First 60% of Old Macdonald’s refrain 27. ___ on the dotted line 30. Pedicurist’s perimeter 31. Top producer of ATM’s 32. Mark Twain’s final unpublished novel, perhaps (with 43 Across) 36. The only name given for the father in Calvin and Hobbes 39. General of Detroit 40. Fix a hockey stick 42. Acronym that both psychiatrists and psychologists use for their orgs. 43. See 32 Across 47. Pas’ business partners 49. “Not ___ dare!” 50. One of the A’s in NCAA 51. Airport code for Iran’s Omidiyeh Air Base 52. A whole lot of 55. Bring back, as an old fashion style 58. The palindromic Bobbsey twin 59. Short for reputation, repetition, or repetition 62. Holiest hole, perhaps 66. Cupid, to the Greeks 67. December 24th and 31st 68. Castro’s favorite was “Cohiba Corona Especial” 69. Certain e-mail folder 70. Deli breads 71. Create big hair 1. Be slack-jawed

Down

51 56

39 42

30 33

Stephen Sherr

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Wanted

TV/Cable

There will be a Bluegrass Coffeehouse on Thursday, July 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Dorey Recreation Center, 2999 Darbytown Rd., Henrico, for musicians of all ages and abilities. Come out for a few jam sessions with fellow acoustic musicians. Admission is free. For more information, call (804) 652-1427.

Ongoing

HOUSE CLEANING — THE ABSOLUTE BEST, affordable. Hi! I’m Mary, and I offer excellent, friendly and affordable home cleaning services. I clean your home just the way you want. Free estimates. Please call me at 804-908-6399.

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July 12

Classics of Dental Literature

Personal Services

Legal Services WERE YOU AN INDUSTRIAL OR CONSTRUCTION TRADESMAN and recently diagnosed with lung cancer? You and your family may be entitled to a significant cash reward. Call 1-888351-0312 for your risk free consultation.

Crossword Puzzle

LOVELY WOMAN, 50s, SHAPELY LADY, young at heart, easygoing, seeking to meet and date a very attractive SWM, age 50s or 60s, a gentleman. Prefer brawny build, who is caring, sincere, courteous, compassionate, affectionate, stable, secure and lives a healthy, active lifestyle, non-smoker. Have fun dates, laughter, friendship, possibly more. 703-8635564. Please leave a nice message with phone number for reply.

2. ... off in the distance 3. Bog down 4. Victorian ___ 5. Chevy Impala, for example 6. Busiest busybody 7. Verb for you, but not I 8. Striped person on a striped field 9. Coke Zero or Pepsi One 10. Art with many small parts 11. Good name for a Beatles cover band 12. Valuable rocks 13. All of the Headless Horseman 18. Conclusion to sit and stand 19. “A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the ___(Balzac) 23. Prefix with China 24. The Simpsons storekeeper 25. Scratch up the calendar’s third month 27. Saint Martin, briefly 28. Home of the “Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity” 29. “Hurry up” 33. Like acidic foods, to teeth 34. National Science Foundation 35. Some sets on Doogie Howser, M.D. 37. Planet of the ___ 38. 2017 Emmy-winner Laura 41. First word in A Visit from St. Nicholas 44. Excessively 45. Yoko, whose Skylanding statue is in Chicago 46. Basketball-based insanity 48. In the thick of 53. Fond du ___, Wis. 54. Put into law 55. Highlighted lines on a AAA map 56. German for “honor” (or acronym for “here”) 57. Word before after (in Mother Goose) 59. Largest city of Latvia 60. Search options on cheapOair.com 61. Combustible pile 63. Feature of Wrigley Field 64. Originally called, as a family name 65. Compete for

Answers on page 25.

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Going for the gold at the Senior Games