September 2025 | Baltimore Beacon

Gary Bartz’s Charm City roots

By Margaret Foster

Music is the fountain of youth, according to Gary Bartz, one of Baltimore’s most famous jazz saxophonists.

“Music does keep you young,” Bartz, 84, said in an interview with the Beacon “Music is more powerful than anyone realizes.”

Bartz has won two Grammy Awards and released 45 solo albums during his sixdecade music career. Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) named Bartz a 2024 Jazz Master, the highest honor for a jazz musician.

Although he’s been called a “titan of modern jazz,” a “jazz icon” and a “certified national treasure,” Bartz remains down-toearth. Far from being a master, he says, he still has a lot to learn.

“I always think of myself as still learning. I’m still a student, always a student.”

Bartz often returns to his hometown, performing at Keystone Korner Baltimore just last fall. This August, he was a headliner at DC JazzFest in Washington, D.C.

Power of Charlie Parker

Bartz’s musical career ignited when he was six years old. One Sunday at his grandmother’s house, he heard a Charlie Parker record for the first time. Though he had never heard a saxophone before, he knew he wanted to create that kind of sound.

“I heard this instrument, and I didn’t know what it was…but whatever [Parker] was doing, that was what I wanted to do with my life,” he told the NEA last year.

After begging his parents for a saxophone for years, Bartz finally received one for Christmas when he was 11 years old. Since he had spent so much time listening to Parker and other alto saxophonists, he was a quick study.

“I actually knew how to play before I got a saxophone,” he said. “Listening is learning, if you know how to listen.”

Bartz’s father, Floyd Bartz, often took his teenage son to jam sessions to hear and learn from professional musicians.

“He and my mom were my best supporters,” Bartz said.

One night when he was just 14, Bartz and his father were in a club watching saxophonist Sonny Stitt when Stitt, tipped off by

LEISURE & TRAVEL

Hop aboard a small cruise ship to see Japan’s lesser-known coastal villages and national parks; plus, plan a road trip to Massachusetts to mark our nation’s 250th anniversary page 15

Bartz’s proud papa, called him up on stage to play with him — his first appearance.

A few years later, his parents opened a jazz club in East Baltimore to immerse their son in the music. The North End Lounge was located on Gay Street between North Avenue and Port Street, and it became a popular venue.

“Mr. Bartz had a jazz club that was phenomenal, so quaint and wonderful,” the late Baltimore jazz singer Ruby Glover told a Johns Hopkins oral historian in 2002. “It was always packed.”

Although the North End Lounge closed decades ago, the building remains. It has housed a church and other businesses over the years.

“The last time I went, I think it was a laundromat,” Bartz said. “I used to go to Birdland [Jazz Club in New York]. Now it’s a strip joint. Time moves on.”

Coming on the scene

Bartz didn’t just watch jazz bubble up in this country; he contributed to the body of work as it evolved, learning directly from American icons.

Of course, New York City was the heart of the jazz scene. Bartz moved to New York in 1958 to attend the Juilliard School, catching downtown shows every chance he got. He returned to Baltimore after three semesters to complete his schooling at the Peabody Institute. All the while, he headed the in-house band at his father’s club in the 1960s, where he met greats like Max Roach, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey, playing in their bands.

“I was lucky and came up in a good time period,” Bartz said. “I miss my friends who taught me so much and helped me to

ARTS & STYLE

After years of struggle, a painting professor at MICA and Hopkins found success page 18

PHOTO BY BRIAN

Gary Bartz grew up in Baltimore, where his father had a jazz club. Bartz, an alto saxophonist who played with Miles Davis, tours the world performing, but he still enjoys playing in his hometown.

It’s Expo season again

Baltimore County’s annual Power of Age Expo returns to the Timonium Fairgrounds on Wednesday, October 29. This massive event is a longstanding Baltimore tradition — and well worth a visit. Be sure to stop by the Baltimore Beacon booth while you’re there.

I’d also like to personally invite you to the Beacon’ s own 50+Expos. For 26 years, we’ve hosted these popular events in Maryland and Virginia, bringing our readers valuable resources, engaging activities and a chance to connect with the community.

Sunday, September 28 , noon to 4 p.m., at the Silver Spring Civic Building in Silver Spring, Maryland Sunday, October 5, noon to 4 p.m., at Springfield Town Center in Springfield, Virginia

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By Stuart P. Rosenthal

Our Expos attract thousands of older adults and their families each year. Attendees can take advantage of important health screenings , get flu shots and other vaccines , hear from interesting speakers, and gather information from dozens of exhibitors and sponsors — including government agencies, nonprofits and local businesses offering products and services geared toward older adults.

This year’s Greater Washington Area 50+Expos will take place:

To help safeguard your health, the Expos will feature free screenings for blood pressure, glaucoma, blood glucose and cholesterol. A full range of vaccines will be available, including the latest Covid booster, regular and high-dose flu shots, RSV, Shingrix (shingles), pneumonia and tetanus. Please remember to bring your Medicare and/or insurance card.

In Silver Spring, our keynote program will be a Community Conversation with Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich — a great opportunity to share your questions and comments directly with him.

In Springfield, we’re partnering with the Fairfax County Area Agency on Aging to present Ventures in Volunteering — more than 35 agencies and nonprofits offering exciting ways to get involved in the community.

As always, our exhibitors will include

The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is privately owned. Other editions serve Howard County, Md. and Greater Washington, D.C.

Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. Maryland residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below. Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher.

Publisher/Editor Emeritus – Stuart P. Rosenthal

President/Associate Publisher – Judith K. Rosenthal

Executive Vice President – Gordon Hasenei

Editor – Margaret Foster

Art Director – Kyle Gregory

Vice President of Operations – Roger King

Advertising Representatives

Jill Joseph, Steve Levin, M.K. Phillips, Alan Spiegel

Assistant Editor – Ana Preger Hart

Editorial Assistant – Tori Cleveland

Editorial Intern – Luke Sanelli

hospitals, healthcare providers, retirement communities, home improvement contractors, home care agencies, financial and legal advisors, insurance companies, travel and fitness services, and many other valuable resources.

We’re grateful to our sponsors for making these events possible:

Gold Sponsors : AARP Virginia and Giant Pharmacy

Silver Sponsors: Adventist HealthCare, Johns Hopkins Health Plans, and Pepco

Bronze Sponsors: Maryland Relay, Xfinity, Trinity Health PACE, Montgomery County Recreation, Montgomery County Aging &

Disability Services, Autumn Lake Healthcare, and the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging.

For more details — or to exhibit, sponsor or volunteer — call (410) 248-9101, email info@thebeaconnewspapers.com, or visit thebeaconnewspapers.com/50expos. There’s still time for additional sponsors and exhibitors to join us!

I look forward to seeing you on September 28 and/or October 5. If you spot me at either Expo, please say hello.

Letters to the editor

Readers are encouraged to share their opinions on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or email info@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor:

Thank you so much for the tickets to an IronBirds Baseball game at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen.

We have passed by the stadium when traveling to see family in the New York area and have talked about going to see a game there, but somehow have never done so.

Thanks to the Beacon, we decided to actually take the time and schedule an afternoon at the park. We had great weather and a fun time.

Brenda and Lambert Zirkind Baltimore, MD

submissions. © Copyright 2025 The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

Ed.: We’re glad you had a wonderful time! Our newspaper gives away free tickets to performances, bus trips and other events throughout the year. Our next giveaway will be in the October issue.

Dear Editor:

I love the Beacon. As a senior in Howard County, I find it a valuable resource and enjoy reading the paper.

I was dismayed to see a classified advertisement in the Beacon for ragdoll cats for sale. Please do not support people selling animals for profit. These “businesses” are not regulated, inspected or in any way legitimate avenues for the treatment of animals. They may in fact increase the breeding of more unwanted animals.

I would ask you to reconsider the advertisement of the sale of animals in your classified section.

Name withheld by request Ellicott City, MD See LETTERS TO THE EDITOR , page 21

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A D V E R S E A D V I L

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Medication, diabetes and loose footwear can make you unsteady on your feet

AI may soon interpret your test results

By John Miley

As artificial intelligence (AI) gets better at interpreting images, the tech industry is setting its sights on healthcare. Cue the AI radiologist.

The futuristic vision includes AI providing an accurate analysis of multiple medical scans, combining it with an understanding of patient history, and delivering a personalized diagnosis and course of treatment.

When paired with a trained clinician, AI tools have the potential to improve the quality of care, save time and expand access to specialist expertise, among other benefits, according to a new paper, “Multimodal generative AI for medical image interpretation,” in the medical journal Nature

The authors say early research suggests that AI “could one day match human expert performance in generating reports across disciplines, such as radiology, pathology and dermatology.”

Interpreting medical images and writing reports is a time-consuming challenge for human specialists, who may make mistakes or take a long time to release results.

Many current AI medical tools have narrow uses, like finding specific issues in a certain type of scan. A future AI model could have an expansive knowledge of mul-

tiple types of scans, all sorts of medical conditions and a range of treatments to recommend.

Opportunity for profit

Tech giants and start-ups alike see huge moneymaking potential. Microsoft, Google and OpenAI all have AI models or research in medical imaging.

Start-up Harrison.ai recently raised $112 million in funding to speed up diagnoses for radiologists, calling its widely used tool “a second set of eyes for clinicians.”

Microsoft is working with major hospitals on AI tools to interpret thousands of conditions, trying to tap into the tens of billions of dollars health systems spend on imaging and uncover cost savings.

“Generative AI has transformative potential to overcome traditional barriers in AI product development and to accelerate the impact of these technologies on clinical care,” said Keith J. Dreyer, D.O., Ph.D., chief data science officer and chief imaging officer at Mass General Brigham, in a news release last summer about the Microsoft collaboration.

Risk of inaccuracy, tampering

But there are “formidable obstacles” to

finding a truly helpful AI assistant in radiology, notes the paper. AI models have been plagued by biases, inaccuracies and socalled hallucinations — the industry term for made-up answers, including false or misleading text that sounds authoritative.

Those types of flaws are nonstarters in a high-stakes medical setting unless there are strict guardrails.

There are also concerns that AI could overlook rare diseases for different populations, plus cyber fears of the tools being tampered with to deliver certain results, “leading to overprescription, insurance fraud and falsifying clinical trials,” says the paper. However, AI models are getting better and multiple models can be used together for better results.

Human oversight needed

One thing the researchers make clear: “Human evaluation is critical.” AI tools for medical imaging need doctors to fine-tune them and better benchmarks so they can be tested and improved. Hospitals need to agree on metrics to decide when and how to rely on AI.

In the near term, AI could become a reliable assistant to clinicians, taking initial readings, drafting preliminary reports and

even answering questions via a chatbot. Increased use of generative AI will seriously pick up in coming years, aiming to save time for radiologists and help train the next generation of students.

The future for patients includes interacting with an AI doctor about test results and getting answers or even treatment suggestions in plain language. Also likely: getting a second opinion from one or multiple AI models, rather than a real doctor.

The hope is patients will have higher compliance with treatment and better outcomes through being able to ask a lot more questions and not feeling rushed during a short visit with a human doctor.

In the meantime, be wary of using free public AI tools for medical advice with your own scans. Uploading personal images and medical information poses big privacy risks, on top of concerns about accuracy.

So, are human radiologists on the road to extinction? No, it’s likely human judgment remains solidly in the loop, even as AI improves. Plus, future regulations may prevent AI from completely taking charge. © 2025 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Loneliness may not always shorten lives

By Christy Bieber

Loneliness can increase your risk of early death. This has been conventional wisdom for a long time.

Past research has shown a clear connection between social isolation and mortality, and two years ago the U.S. Surgeon General even published a lengthy advisory on the “epidemic” of loneliness and isolation that was putting Americans at risk.

Of course, it also seems intuitive that a person lacking in social connections would suffer consequences that impact their physical health, as no one likes to be lonely.

Now, however, new research is calling into question this long-held belief and, surprisingly, found that loneliness may not be quite the threat that we all once thought it was.

In fact, the problem may be one of confusing cause and effect.

Worldwide study results

To gain further insight into the relationship between loneliness and health, researchers conducted a global study of home care recipients across three countries.

More than 300,000 older adults were included in the study, with home care recipients chosen for the research because this population is likely to have high rates of loneliness due to complex health needs and mobility issues. This differed from other loneliness studies, many of which focused on the general population.

Surprisingly, these researchers discovered that lonelier individuals actually fared better than those with stronger social connections, stating, “the risk-adjusted rates of mortality were consistently lower among lonely home care clients than among those who were not lonely.”

While between 15% and 25% of home care recipients included in the study exhib-

ited loneliness, those with more complex health issues and reduced levels of activity were the most likely to be lonely — yet, their risk of death was still lower.

This meant, contrary to past evidence, this research showed that “when adjusting for agerelated confounding factors, loneliness is not predictive of increased mortality risk.”

Why the different results?

Researchers were not entirely sure why this study data was so different from past research.

However, one theory suggests that the prior research does not get the relationship right between loneliness and mortality.

Many of the past studies are focused on the general population, for whom loneliness is associated with poor health status, But loneliness is also associated with both advanced age and depressive symptoms in this population. Both of those factors may

be the explanation for the early death rather than the loneliness itself.

Because the population in this latest research is focused on home care recipients, it’s also possible that those who were the sickest received the most time with caregivers. This added interaction with caregivers may have reduced the risks of loneliness among this vulnerable group. Some past research also suggests that people who are lonelier have higher healthseeking behavior, which could result in better health outcomes and a reduced mortality risk. Lastly, researchers suggested that there’s a possibility that “loneliness may be a consequence of those health changes [that lead to mortality] rather than their cause.” In other words, changes related to advancing health may both make people more lonely and more likely to pass away.

What are the best foods for bone health?

By Caroline Thomason

Maintaining strong, healthy bones is a cornerstone of healthy aging, and it requires a combination of proper nutrition, adequate energy intake and consistent weight-bearing exercise.

Those who eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy, lean proteins and whole grains have better bone health, according to the USDA.

Essential nutrients like vitamins D and K, magnesium and protein help build and maintain bone density. Incorporating specific foods rich in these nutrients into your

Loneliness

From page 4

How to protect yourself

This research should provide some comfort to older people struggling with social connections, in that it reveals being lonely is not necessarily as deadly as feared.

However, while the specific relationship between loneliness and death is unclear, it is clear that loneliness is a factor that affects well-being to some degree.

So, while maintaining social connections can become more challenging without the structure of work or the increase in connections that come with raising young children, it remains important for retirees to continue

diet can significantly impact bone health as you age and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

Here are six of the best foods to eat to make sure your bones are resilient throughout your life:

Dairy. Dairy products are rich sources of calcium, vitamin D and protein. Calcium is essential for building and maintaining strong bones, while vitamin D enhances calcium absorption and bone growth. Protein supports bone structure and repair.

Consuming dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt can provide these vital

to build strong social networks.

Joining clubs, making regular plans with friends and neighbors, volunteering, and enjoying nature with others are all possible ways to tackle the loneliness problem.

Those who are experiencing more serious health issues may also benefit from increased time with caregivers who can reduce their feelings of isolation, especially if this latest research is correct that the link between loneliness and increased mortality is actually caused by the health issues that both increase the risk of death and the risk of social isolation.

© 2025 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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nutrients, helping to prevent osteoporosis and maintain bone density throughout life.

Leafy greens. Leafy greens are rich in vitamin K content. Vitamin K plays a crucial role in bone metabolism by helping to regulate calcium and promoting the binding of calcium to the bone matrix, which strengthens bones.

Eating leafy greens like kale, spinach and broccoli can significantly contribute to maintaining bone density.

Collagen. Collagen is essential for bone health, as it provides the structural framework for bones, contributing to their strength and flexibility.

Collagen-boosting foods include bone broth, proteins, zinc and copper-dense foods

(e.g., beans, beef and chicken), and vitamin C-rich foods (e.g., citrus fruits and peppers). Nuts. Nuts have a high magnesium content, which is crucial for bone formation and maintenance. Magnesium helps in the conversion of vitamin D into its active form, enhancing calcium absorption and supporting bone density.

Prunes. Prunes are uniquely beneficial for bone health due to their composition of vitamin K, potassium, boron and polyphenols, which support bone density and may reduce the risk of fractures. They also contain dietary fiber, calcium and magnesium,

For free materials about area housing communities, just complete and clip this coupon and mail, or take a picture and email, to the Beacon.

Housing Communities

o Charlestown/Erickson (see ad on page 7)

o Christ Church Harbor Apts (see ad on page 7)

o Oak Crest/Erickson (see ad on page 7)

o Park View Laurel (see ad on page 13)

o Park View Towson (see ad on page 13)

o Park View Fullerton (see ad on page 13)

o Park View Rosedale (see ad on page 13)

o Pickersgill (see ad on page 10)

o St. Mary’s Roland View Towers (see ad on page 16)

o Terraces at Park Heights (see ad on page 5)

o Virginia Towers (see ad on page 19)

o Warren Place Senior Apartments (see ad on page 21)

The perfect blend of affordability, sustainability, and community at The Terraces at Park Heights!

Community Amenities

• Laundry Facilities • Library • Fitness Center • Community Kitchen

• Computer Center • Lounge Area • Raised Planter Beds for Gardening

Apartment Amenities

• Full-Size Washer/Dryer Included in Apartment

• Large Closets • Dishwasher • Emergency Pull Cord System

• Granite Countertops • Stainless Steel Appliances • Large Windows

• Carpet in Bedroom • Kitchen Island • Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring

o Westminster House (see ad on page 20)

o Windsor House Apartments (see ad on page 17)

Clinical Health Studies

o Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium – LiBBY Study (see article on page 8)

o Alzheimer’s Memory Test Study (see ad on page 8)

o Brain Drug Study (see ad on page 9)

o Exercise & Sleep Study/mPATH (see ad on page 9)

o Fall Prevention Study (see ad on page 6)

o Prediabetes Blood Sugar Study (see ad on page 8)

o Smell Test Study (see ad on page 9)

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

Convenient, nutritious meal delivery kits

By Lori Zanteson

It takes time and energy to plan, shop and prepare meals that align with dietary needs in the midst of a calendar already bursting with daily demands. And what about nutrition knowledge and cooking skills?

Meal delivery services can help by providing healthy meals without all of that preparation and know-how. Here are some points to consider if you think meal delivery might be right for you.

How they work

A meal delivery kit is a subscription service that delivers ready-to-heat and eat meals (such as Mom’s Meals or Top Chef Meals) or pre-portioned ingredients for quicker home cooking right to your door (Blue Apron, HelloFresh).

Subscribers order meal kits on the company’s website or app, choosing the number and frequency of meals and menu choices for a week or other set period of time. The customized meal kits arrive packaged as complete pre-cooked meals to be stored until ready to eat or packaged with meal ing-

Bone health

From page 5

which may improve nutrient absorption and reduce inflammation.

redients to prepare with easy-to-follow recipes.

“Meal delivery kits can be a great tool for supporting your health goals because they take the guesswork out of meal planning,” said Andrea Mathis, MA, RDN, LD, owner of Beautiful Eats & Things.

“They typically offer balanced, portioncontrolled meals that are convenient which makes it easier to stay on track,” she said.

Not only do they save time by taking care of planning, grocery shopping and meal prep, they eliminate the need for desperate dashes to the market or fast-food restaurant when the temptation to grab a less than healthy meal threatens to upend healthy dietary goals. All you need to do is choose which meals you want each week.

Discover

new foods, recipes

Meal delivery kits offer many different types of flavors and cuisines, including many with global and cultural flair.

Each week you can try something new, which is just as enjoyable as it is inspiring. You might discover a novel way to eat asparagus or a healthy chicken recipe to add

Research shows that regular consumption of prunes can improve bone mineral density and prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women. Salmon. Salmon is an excellent food for

STAY STEADY, STAY STRONG!

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to your favorites and prepare on your own even after your meal delivery service ends.

Many services to choose from

With more than 300 meal delivery kit services in the U.S., there are lots of options.

Some meal delivery services are built upon a particular dietary pattern, like low sodium, plant-based, keto, high protein or vegan.

Whichever appeals to you, Mathis said, “Always check the nutrition information to make sure the meals align with your needs and preferences. A good meal kit should include a balance of protein, fiber and healthy fats to keep you full and satisfied.”

She also advised to double-check the sodium and added sugars and be wary of buzzwords like “clean” or “guilt-free” and marketing claims that promise unrealistic results.

If your family members have different dietary goals or food preferences, Mathis said meal delivery kits can still work.

“Many services offer customized options, allowing family members to choose meals

healthy bones because it provides vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin D works together with calcium for proper absorption, while consuming omega-3s may reduce bone breakdown and improve inflammation.

that fit their preferences,” she said. “Some allow for add-ons or modifications, so one person can enjoy a plant-based dish while another gets a higher-protein option.”

Do a test drive

Many companies offer significant discounts on your first order to encourage people to give their service a try. Mathis recommends starting with a trial period.

After a week, she said, “evaluate the meal delivery service to determine if it’s something that you would like to continue. If it helps reduce stress, adds variety, and supports balanced eating, great! But if it feels too rigid or expensive, there are plenty of other ways to eat well without it.”

Environmental Nutrition is the awardwinning independent newsletter written by nutrition experts dedicated to providing readers up-to-date, accurate information about health and nutrition in clear, concise English. For more information, visit environmentalnutrition.com.

© 2025 Belvoir Media Group, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC. © 2025 Belvoir Media Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Diabetes and your eyes

By Wayne Wu, M.D.

Dear Mayo Clinic: I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. My health care professional shared that I’ll need to have regular eye exams in addition to keeping my blood sugar well controlled. How does diabetes affect the eyes, and why are routine eye exams so important?

A: Diabetes is a prevalent condition worldwide, affecting approximately 10% of the population. It’s defined as a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood sugar or glucose. Diabetes is a systemic disease affecting many organs, including the heart, blood vessels, nerves, kidneys and eyes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Many people think this type of diabetes is only diagnosed in children and teens, but more than half the people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes are over 30.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas still produces insulin, but the body doesn’t use it appropriately.

Some people develop diabetes during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes. People who have gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a much greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes during their lifetime.

While eye care and regular eye exams are important for everyone, they’re particularly vital for people with diabetes. Let’s explore why routine eye care is so crucial.

The eye, a vital part of your vision, contains a sensitive layer called the retina. The blood vessels in the retina can be affected by diabetes, leading to a condition known as diabetic retinopathy. This condition gradually damages these blood vessels and can progress through various stages of severity.

When diabetic retinopathy develops, eye damage can occur before symptoms develop. There often are no symptoms until the retinopathy has reached a moderate or advanced stage. In the advanced stage, diabetic retinopathy can cause rapid, permanent vision loss.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss worldwide in people ages 25 to 74. By 2030, an estimated 191 million people globally will have diabetic retinopathy, and 56.3 million people with diabetes will have vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

For people with diabetes, regular eye screening is part of their annual exam with their primary healthcare team.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first autonomous artificial intelligence system to aid in detecting diabetic

retinopathy. The system captures an ocular photograph of the eye’s retina to identify early signs of vessel damage. The ocular photograph is quick and designed for your comfort during the process.

If the screening detects diabetic retinopathy, your healthcare team will refer you to retinal specialists or an ophthalmology specialist for further evaluation and management.

Prevention remains the best approach for diabetic retinopathy. Early detection and diligent management by an ophthalmologist

can slow the progression or halt diabetic retinopathy. A prompt diagnosis increases the chances of a favorable outcome.

Even if your annual eye exam showed no issues, it’s crucial to report any of these symptoms to your healthcare team right away:

• Blurred vision

• Double vision

• Dark or empty spot in the center of your vision

See MAYO CLINIC Q&A

Health Studies

Hope for dementia patients with agitation

By Margaret Foster

Dementia is a cruel disease, not only for the patient but everyone in their orbit. People with advanced dementia may become agitated and angry.

“Agitation in the later stages of life with dementia can be a devastating symptom for both participants and their loved ones and caregivers,” said Brigid Reynolds, Georgetown University faculty member and coprincipal investigator of a new study for dementia patients.

But the go-to medications to treat agitation, such as narcotics, anti-psychotics and benzodiazepines, come with unpleasant side effects.

Mayo Clinic Q&A

From page 7

• Difficulty reading

• Difficulty seeing well at night

• Droopy eyelid

• Eye pain

• Flashing lights

• Halos around lights

“We’re very aware of significant caregiver burden associated with agitation symptoms at the end of life. We’d like to find something to improve quality of life at the end of life,” Reynolds said.

Nicknamed the LiBBY Study, the trial will determine if an oral combination of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) is effective in treating agitation in hospice-eligible participants with dementia. It will also evaluate whether or not the oral combination of THC and CBD can help to reduce potential side effects of medications typically used to calm patients.

“This is the first of its kind study,” Reynolds said. “This is the first time THC-CBD

“Available treatments often have unwanted side effects like sedation, falls or itching. And they often don’t work to treat the agitation,” Reynolds said.

• Objects that look larger or smaller than usual

• Sudden appearance of spots or floaters

These symptoms may indicate you need a change in your eyeglass or contact lens prescription or signal other more serious diseases, such as diabetic-related ocular complications such as diabetic retinopathy.

has been tested in this population.”

Seven visits

People age 40 and over who have dementia and agitation may be eligible for the LiBBY Study. “You don’t have to have severe dementia to be in this study,” Reynolds noted. But potential participants should be in hospice or be eligible for hospice. Her study team will help determine eligibility.

In this 12-week study, visits may take place at the participant’s residence. Each visit lasts from one to two hours. In between home visits, the study team will check in with the caregiver by phone.

The study is a randomized, double-blind trial, meaning that participants will be ran-

Strict control of your blood glucose levels reduces your risk of developing vision loss from diabetic retinopathy. In addition, you should control high blood pressure and cholesterol, as they can affect the retinal health of your eyes. — Wayne Wu, M.D., vitreoretinal surgeon and ophthalmologist, Eau Claire, Wisconsin Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational re-

domly assigned to take a digestible oil that is either THC-CBD or a placebo. At the end of 12 weeks, all study participants are invited to participate in a 12-week extension without the chance of getting the placebo.

The LiBBY Study is funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging and coordinated by the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium.

There are 13 clinical trial sites that are enrolling participants in the LiBBY study, including the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Howard University and Medstar Georgetown University Hospital.

For more information, see libbystudy.org, email libby@som.umaryland.edu or call (410) 328-7849 or 1-800-LiBBY-11.

source and doesn’t replace regular medical care. This Mayo Clinic Q&A represents inquiries this healthcare expert has received from patients. For more information, visit mayoclinic.org.

© 2025 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Increase health benefits on your daily walk

By Howard LeWine, M.D.

Q: I try to walk at least 30 minutes every day. What can I do during the walk that might improve my health?

A: You can get even more health benefits by adding a few simple upgrades to your daily walk.

Your regular walking routine is already helping you maintain good balance. During your walk, the brain integrates information from your inner ear organs, vision and nerve endings and feelings in the feet, muscles and joints, all the way up the spine.

Walking at a brisk pace is a moderateintensity activity that makes your heart and lungs work harder. The exertion activates changes in your muscles, metabolism, blood vessels and brain that contribute to improved heart health.

If walking is easy for you, try making it a little harder to get even more practice and potentially get better at balancing. For example, during a walk you could periodically take about 10 steps walking heel-to-toe. The narrower your base of support when standing, the trickier it is to maintain your balance.

Other ideas: Turn sideways and take 10

side steps. Or keep walking forward, but turn your head slowly left and then right a few times in a row. Why? If you’re walking in a certain direction but turn and look in a different direction or aim your ears in a different direction, you’re not giving the usual visual or auditory feedback to the brain, which challenges your balance.

Walking offers an excellent way to add stress on our bones to keep them strong. Weight-bearing exercise is a standard way to strengthen bones, and walking is a weight-bearing activity.

Add weights

Weight lifting is also a good way to strengthen bones. You can combine the two activities for extra oomph by wearing a weighted vest or backpack on your walk.

Get a vest that allows you to adjust the amount of weight you’ll carry, such as a vest with removable weights. For example, start with 5 pounds. Keep adding another 2.5 pounds more every week or two, as long as your gait feels the same and you don’t experience any pain or soreness after wearing it.

Another way to make your heart work

harder on a walk is by adding arm movements. About 10 minutes into a 30-minute walk, begin raising your arms up and down repeatedly in any way that feels comfortable — such as straight out in front of you, above your head or out to the sides.

You can also make your heart work harder by adding high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which involves brief bouts of strenuous exercise.

During a walk, that would mean periodi-

cally breaking into a run for about 30 to 60 seconds, doing push-ups or jumping jacks. The easier this becomes, the longer the high-intensity intervals can last.

Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. For additional consumer health information, see health.harvard.edu. © 2024 Harvard University. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Improve Your Health with Personalized Exercise.

We are looking for older adults (65+) to participate in a research study on personalized exercise. Learn how a tailored exercise program can help you feel stronger and improve your health and well-being. You will be compensated for your time and participation upon successful completion of the study.

For more information, please scan the QR code, call 443-692-7169 or email mpathstudy@jh.edu

TREAT AGING

Ongoing smell loss may be one of the most important signals of brain health as we age.

A new study from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is exploring this link. We’re calling on everyone with and without Parkinson’s to request a simple scratch-and-sniff test and contribute to important research.

Participation includes:

• Up to 5 in-person study visits over ~12 weeks

• Tests of memory, thinking, and behavior

• MRI scans of your brain

• Blood samples

• Taking AGB101 and placebo for two weeks each with a 4-week washout period between treatments

• Compensation of up to $500

Johns Hopkins is conducting a research study to determine whether an investigational study drug called AGB101 can improve brain networks in older adults. You may eligible for this research study if you: Are between 50-80 years old Are able to have an MRI

in participating or have questions?

How much Advil (ibuprofen) is too much?

Dear Savvy Senior, I take Advil pretty regularly for arthritis pain and headaches, but how can I tell if I’m taking more than is safe?

—Achy Alan

Dear Alan, Ibuprofen, better known by one of its brand names, Advil, is one of the most popular medications on the market today for treating all different types of pain, headaches, fevers and cramps.

Given the drug’s broad pain-reducing effects, safety record and availability over the counter (OTC), it’s no surprise that some people pop the little brownish-red tablets whenever they feel the slightest twinge of discomfort.

But ibuprofen, which is also sold under brand names like Motrin and Nuprin, can pose certain health risks, especially for those with kidney or stomach issues. Here’s what you should know.

The University of Maryland’s Legacy Leadership Institute on Public Policy, in partnership with the state of Maryland, is looking for volunteers age 50+ to serve as volunteer legislative leaders during the 2025-2026 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly.

The twelve-week classroom training (two days per week) begins on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 and ends on Wednesday December 3rd, 2025.

Classes will be held at the University of Maryland Extension, 8930 Stanford Blvd, Suite 25, Columbia, MD 21045

The volunteer assignment will be in the legislative offices of members of the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.

Participants will serve a minimum of two (2) days per week starting Wednesday, January 14, 2026 and ending on Monday, April 13, 2026

For more information or an application contact Wesley Queen at wqueen@umd.edu ng on 13, 2026

No

more than six per day

For most adults and children ages 12 years and older, the recommended OTC dose of ibuprofen is one (or two, if needed) 200-milligram tablets, caplets or gel caplets every four to six hours while symptoms persist. You shouldn’t take more than 1,200 mg (or six pills) in a 24-hour period.

If you haven’t consulted a doctor about how much is safe, or if you aren’t certain about your risk factors, it’s best not to exceed the recommended limit of 1,200 milligrams a day.

people with conditions that put strain on their kidneys, like high blood pressure or heart failure. Those at high risk for these conditions — as well as for stomach ulcers, heart attacks, strokes or bleeding problems — should talk with their doctors before taking ibuprofen.

If you have chronic pain or were recently injured or had surgery, your doctor may prescribe ibuprofen for you at a higher dose. Prescription tablets are usually stronger compared to the OTC dose, such as 600 mg and 800 mg. The maximum daily dose for prescription-strength ibuprofen is 3,200 mg in a 24-hour period. But it’s important only to take what your provider has prescribed for you.

Also be aware that ibuprofen is sometimes added to certain cold and flu medications, so always read the ingredient list on medications before using them.

Stresses kidneys, liver, heart

Ibuprofen belongs to a class of drugs known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, which reduce pain and inflammation by blocking the activity of certain enzymes.

But these enzymes also help maintain kidney and liver function and regulate the balance of fluids and electrolytes in your body.

A place of independence

Pickersgill assisted living residents are rarely in l their rooms! Instead, , theyy’re out and about— participating in a community activity or event or dining with friends.

A place of beauty

Living in n this community—ttucked d into a beautiful West Towson neighborhood —you or your loved one beau njoy a warm welcome and daily activities, and they’ll appreciate the will enj paths, beautifully landscaped grounds, lovely gardens and more. walking path

A place of caring

People who take medications such as diuretics, anticoagulants, ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) to manage cardiovascular issues should also be careful, because ibuprofen stresses the kidneys and the heart.

To reduce these health risks, don’t take the maximum recommended dose for more than a week or two at a time. If you are needing it for more than two weeks, or if you’re turning to ibuprofen every day to keep your aches and pains in check, you need to see your doctor.

When taken for long periods, ibuprofen can also increase the risk of stomach ulcers. The drug inhibits enzymes that, among other things, aid in the production of mucus that lines and protects the stomach lining, so without these enzymes, the stomach becomes vulnerable to irritation and damage.

Some alternatives to ibuprofen you should talk to your doctor about include acetaminophen (Tylenol), topical NSAIDs (diclofenac gels) that are not absorbed into the blood to the same extent as oral NSAIDs, nonacetylated salicylates, curcumin (an active ingredient in turmeric) and acupuncture.

Each assisted liv g resident enjoys three chef-prepared meals per day, ing re y services, medication administration, help with daily housekeeping and laundry se quest, and all included in a reasonable monthly tasks and more—always by reques o all of the fee. Each h resi s dent also has access to all Pickersgill ameni l ties. private, full bath, and residents are

So, taking ibuprofen can be dangerous for patients with kidney disease or failure; those with liver damage or cirrhosis; and

Send your questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior.

Our assisted living g residences include a priv wish. This is a lifestyle dedicated to encouraged to decorate their homes as they al staff. independence and assured by a caring, professionalfessionalstasttaff.

Call 888-877-9883 today for more information or to schedule your personal tour.

SAVVY SENIOR

By Jim Miller

Wobbly? How to boost your balance

By Howard LeWine, M.D.

Q: Why does age affect balance, and what can help offset the change?

A: As we age, physical changes and health conditions often affect our balance, raising risk for serious injuries like hip fractures and head trauma. Everything we do to maintain our health, alertness, fitness and mobility will slow the trajectory of our declining balance.

Steady balance relies on input from your eyes, inner ears, nerves, muscles and joints — all processed by the brain. With advancing age, vision and hearing tend to diminish, nerve signals become less reliable, muscles lose strength and power and reflexes slow.

Yet good balance is the foundation for nearly every movement you make. Even if you are strong and flexible, poor balance can make routine tasks difficult — or unsafe. By identifying possible risks, you can take steps to improve your balance.

Three major categories of risk that can impair balance are those related to health, medication effects and your environment.

Health-related balance risks

Vision problems like cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration can hinder your ability to relay your location to the brain.

Inner ear conditions such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, infections or Meniere’s disease can cause vertigo.

Neuropathy, often from diabetes or spine issues, reduces sensation in legs and feet.

Foot conditions, like fallen arches, can alter gait and stability.

Orthostatic hypotension, a drop in blood pressure upon standing, can cause dizziness.

Mild cognitive impairment can affect your reaction time and ability to sense where you are in a space.

Medication-related balance risks

Certain drugs can make you woozy or unsteady, such as:

• Anti-anxiety drugs

• Older antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl)

• Blood pressure medications

• Diabetes medications

• Opioids and sleep aids

Environmental balance risks

Falls can also result from your surroundings and footwear choices.

• Outdoor hazards: uneven paths, paths blocked by shrubbery or large tree roots, poor lighting, snow, ice or rain, especially if you’re not wearing footwear that grips

• Indoor hazards: clutter, loose rugs, dim lighting, slippery floors, extension cords, pets or even ill-fitting slippers or shoes that keep you from sensing the ground properly

Ways to boost balance and avoid falls

• Remove home hazards and install safety features (grab bars, nonslip treads, handrails)

• Talk with your doctor if you think balance issues are related to medication

• Wear supportive shoes with laces to keep them snug on your feet

• Build better balance. Engage in activities like walking, yoga, tai chi or dance

• Try this exercise: Stand on one leg with the other foot lifted a few inches. Hold, then

switch legs. Repeat 10 times each side. If you’re unsteady, position yourself near a counter or wall before trying the exercise. Practicing regularly will help.

Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. For additional consumer health information, please visit www.health.harvard.edu.

© 2025 Harvard University. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

We are a Kehillah Mekabelet – a Welcoming Congregation for all families, couples, and individuals of all races, heritages, ethnicities, gender identities/expressions, and sexual orientations.

Our building, bima (ark podium) and facilities are wheelchair accessible. Congregation Beit Tikvah

Baltimore’s Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue in Roland Park 5802 Roland Avenue, 21210-1310 • 410-464-9402 info@beittikvah.org • www.beittikvah.org

MoneyMoney Law &

Search the Department of Labor’s “lost and found” database for missing IRAs. See below.

For good discounts, join orgs or just ask

By Jim Miller

Dear Savvy Senior,

My husband and I are in our 50s and would like to know what resources you recommend for locating senior discounts, and what age do they kick in?

—Frugal Fay

Dear Fay,

One of the great perks of growing older in America is the many discounts that are available. There are literally thousands of senior discounts on a wide variety of products and services, including restaurants, travel and lodging, entertainment, retail, health, grocery stores, automotive services and much more.

These discounts — typically ranging between 5 and 25 percent off — can add up to save you hundreds of dollars each year. So, if you don’t mind admitting your age,

here are some tips to help you locate the discounts you may be eligible for.

Always ask

The first thing to know is that most businesses don’t advertise them, but many give senior discounts, so don’t be shy about asking.

You also need to know that while some discounts are available as soon as you turn 50, many others may not kick in until you turn 55, 60, 62 or 65.

Search online

Because senior discounts frequently change and can vary depending on where you live and the time of year, the internet is the easiest way to locate them.

A good place to start is at TheSeniorList.com (click on the “Money” tab),

which provides a large list of discounts in restaurants, grocery stores, retail stores, prescription medications, travel and more.

You can also search for discounts by provider. Go to any standard search engine like Google and type in the business or organization you’re curious about, followed by “senior discount” or “senior discount tickets.” Or use an AI tool like Chat GPT or Gemini to do a search.

If you use a smartphone, you can even use an app called the “Senior Discounts & Coupons” app (available in the App Store), which categorizes discounts by age and type.

Join a club

Another good avenue to senior discounts is through membership organizations like AARP, which offers its members

age 50 and older a wide variety of discounts through affiliate businesses. See AARP.org/ViewMyBenefits.

Other organizations you can join that provide discounts include the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC.us), the American Automobile Association (AAA.com) and, for retired federal workers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE.org).

Types of discounts

Here’s an abbreviated rundown of some of the different types of discounts you can expect to find.

Restaurants : Senior discounts are common at restaurants and fast-food establishments like Chili’s, Denny’s, Golden

See DISCOUNTS , page 13

Does a prior employer owe you benefits?

For many years, the Pension Retirement Center (PRC), a nonprofit organization, has provided services at no cost related to individual retirement plans.

The center has encouraged the development of a database of information about benefits that employees are entitled to from previous retirement plans. As a result of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, the Department of Labor created such a database.

If you believe you are entitled to assets in a retirement plan from prior employment, it is to your advantage to access this “lost and found” database at lostandfound.dol.gov.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 19

Currently, the database, known as Retirement Savings Lost and Found, includes information provided by retirement plan administrators and authorized third parties, such as plan record keepers.

The information filed should identify the separated, vested participants who are age 65 or older and may be owed benefits. It can also contain information regarding survivor benefits.

THE SAVINGS GAME

By Elliot Raphaelson

To access the database, you’ll be required to provide your legal first and last name, your date of birth, your Social Security number, a copy of the front and back of

NEO SOUL AND JAZZ FLOW

Join for a beginner-friendly class of music and movement to rejuvenate and cultivate a sense of inner peace. The movement class takes place on Fri., Sept. 19 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Revolve Wellness Studios, Harlem Ln., Catonsville. Bring a yoga mat, water and a small blanket. Tickets are $17.85 or two for the price of one. For more information, visit bit.ly/SoulJazzFlow.

your driver’s license, and have the use of a mobile device. If you don’t have access to a mobile device, there are alternative methods (see Login.gov).

After providing that information, you will be able to access information from the database, after specifying an email address and a language preference, assenting to a “rule of use” agreement, and following authentication procedures.

You would enter your employer’s name into what is known as a WOW application, and do a search to see if information from your former employer is in the database.

Ed Note: According to the Department of Labor, the website can’t help you find individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or plans

BEACON BITS Sept. 22

MEDICARE 101

sponsored by government entities or certain religious organizations. It only allows you to search for reported retirement benefits provided by private-sector employers or unions. Additionally, the website does not include information about Social Security benefits.

Where to ask for help

It is possible that some information in the database is obsolete, and you have already received all the compensation you were entitled to.

If you believe you were entitled to compensation from a prior retirement account, and that information is not contained in the database, you still can use the services

Are you eligible to enroll in Medicare but don’t know where to start? Join AARP for a free Medicare 101 session to review coverage, costs and different Medicare plans. Come Mon., Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Halethorpe Community Center Activity Room, 1900 Northeast Ave., Halethorpe. AARP account and registration required. For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/AARPmedicare101 or call (866) 542-8163.

PHOTO BY JAN

Discounts

From page 12

Corral, Outback Steakhouse, McDonald’s and Sonic, ranging from free/discounted drinks to discounts off your total order.

Retailers : Many thrift stores, like Goodwill, Value Village and Salvation Army, and certain retailers like Kohl’s, Michaels, Ross, Petsmart and Walgreens

Lost and found

From page 12

of PRC to assist you.

You should ask a PRC representative if there is an ongoing pension counseling project available in which you could receive free legal assistance.

If you are not located within a pension counseling project service area, you may be able to obtain free legal assistance from the Pension Help America website (pensionhelp.org or 1-888-420-6550).

If none of those options are available, you can fill out a form available at PRC (pensionrights.org), specifying a state-

Sept. 6

MUEVETON & HEALTH AND FITNESS EXPO

Visit Patterson Park for a free 5K run/walk, food, music, health screenings and other activities on Sat., Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to noon. The walk starts at the observatory, 27 S Patterson Park Ave., Baltimore. For more information, visit pattersonpark.com/mueveton or call (410) 276-3676.

FACT VS. FICTION

Sept. 9

Learn the difference between disinformation, propaganda and rumors — and how they spread. Join a free session on Tues., Sept. 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Reisterstown Branch Library, 21 Cockeys Mill Rd., Reisterstown. For more information, visit bit.ly/BCPLonDisinformation or call (410) 887-1165.

Sept. 13

stores offer a break to seniors on certain days of the week.

Supermarkets: Many locally owned grocery stores offer senior discount programs, as do some chains like Harris Teeter or Fred Meyer, which offer discounts on certain days of the week. Ask your local store.

Travel: American, Delta and United Airlines provide discounted senior fares for select destinations in the U.S. to passen-

ment of your problem and actions you have already taken.

Bottom line: Even if the Department of Labor database does not contain information regarding assets you believe you are entitled to from prior retirement accounts, you can receive support from PRC with other alternatives.

Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com.

© 2025 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

gers 65 plus, while British Airlines offers AARP members $65 off economy seats. Amtrak provides a 10 percent discount to travelers over 65. Most car rental companies give discounts to 50-plus customers or AARP members.

Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival cruise lines offer discounted rates to cruisers 55 and over. And most hotels offer these discounts, usually ranging

BEACON BITS Sept. 15

MHI COMMUNITY HEALTH & WELLNESS DAY

Join Mazwi Holistic Institute for a free, family-friendly gathering designed to uplift, heal and empower the Baltimore community. Enjoy music, vendors, acupuncture, food and resource tables on Sat., Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1700 West Fayette St., Baltimore. For more information, visit bit.ly/MHIwellness or call (410) 947-1700.

from 10 to 30 percent.

Entertainment: Most movie theaters, museums, golf courses, ski slopes and other public entertainment venues provide reduced admission to people over 60 or 65. And the National Park Service offers a Senior Lifetime Pass for those 62 and older for $80. Send your questions or comments to questions@savvysenior.org, or to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

FILING FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

Join AARP for a free Social Security webinar to explore eligibility requirements and helpful tools like the AARP Social Security Resource Center. Come Mon., Sept. 15 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. online. AARP account and registration required. For more information or to register, visit bit.ly/SSfiling or call (866) 542-8163.

ENTERPRISE RESIDENTIAL

MOST COMMUNITIES ARE 62 AND BETTER

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

The Greens at Hammonds Lane: 410-636-1141

Park View at Furnace Branch: 410-761-4150

Park View at Severna Park: 410-544-3411

BALTIMORE CITY

Ednor Apartments I: 410-243-0180

Ednor Apartments II: 410-243-4301

The Greens at Irvington Mews: 410-644-4487

Park Heights Place: 410-578-3445

Park View at Ashland Terrace: 410-276-6440

Park View at Coldspring: 410-542-4400

BALTIMORE COUNTY

Cove Point Apartments I: 410-288-2344

Cove Point Apartments II: 410-288-1660

Evergreen Senior Apartments: 410-780-4888

The Greens at English Consul: 410-789-3000

The Greens at Liberty Road: 410-655-1100

The Greens at Logan Field: 410-288-2000

The Greens at Rolling Road: 410-744-9988

Park View at Catonsville: 410-719-9464

Park View at Dundalk: 410-288-5483 • 55 & Better

Park View at Fullerton: 410-663-0665

Park View at Miramar Landing: 410-391-8375

Park View at Randallstown: 410-655-5673

BALTIMORE COUNTY (CONT.)

Park View at Rosedale: 410-866-1886

Park View at Taylor: 410-663-0363

Park View at Towson: 410-828-7185

Park View at Woodlawn: 410-281-1120

EASTERN SHORE

Park View at Easton: 410-770-3070

HARFORD COUNTY

Park View at Bel Air: 410-893-0064

Park View at Box Hill: 410-515-6115

HOWARD COUNTY

Park View at Colonial Landing: 410-796-4399

Park View at Columbia: 410-381-1118

Park View at Ellicott City: 410-203-9501

Park View at Ellicott City II: 410-203-2096

Park View at Emerson: 301-483-3322

Park View at Snowden River: 410-290-0384

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

Park View at Bladensburg: 301-699-9785 • 55 & Better

Park View at Laurel: 301-490-1526

Park View at Laurel II: 301-490-9730

BEACON BITS

Travel Leisure &

Off Japan’s beaten track via small ship

By Don Mankin

I wandered through the grounds of Japan’s Daisho-in Temple until I found the perfect spot: a small pond covered in lily pads and surrounded by trees, flowering bushes and mossy rocks. A tiny, perfectly crafted pavilion sat at the pond’s edge.

With a contented sigh, I lowered myself onto a bench for a moment of quiet contemplation.

I was on Miyajima Island, on a hill overlooking the strait between the island and the port of Hiroshima, on Heritage Expedition’s “Japan’s National Parks, Art & Culture” voyage, a small-ship expedition cruise circumnavigating Honshu, Japan’s main island.

For two weeks we docked at small towns and cities on Japan’s coastline — most of them inaccessible to large cruise ships — to see national parks, temples, shrines, museums and gardens rarely visited by Western tourists. We also stopped in Ulsan, South Korea, as well as Hiroshima and Osaka, where the cruise began and ended.

I’ve been to Japan many times but never realized just how beautiful it can be. Outside its cities and towns, the country’s largely rural landscape was carved by volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. The scenery is dotted with rice paddies, and lush dense forests cover the hills and mountains.

As we left most every port, the locals cheered, waved, sang, shot off firecrackers, played taiko drums, or in one case, treated us to a choreographed exhibition with dancing high school girls painting cal-

ligraphy on a large canvas on the ground.

A small cruise ship

The ship, the Heritage Adventurer, accommodates 140 guests on four decks, with a lounge and two dining rooms. Most of the passengers on this cruise were from the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Germany. They were in their 60s and 70s, educated, well-informed, thoughtful and curious, especially about the political and economic situation in the U.S.

Every day, we had at least two options for full-day shore excursions, including spectacular hikes and visits to museums, art galleries, historic villages, temples or shrines. We also had the option of staying on the ship and getting a massage; using its pool, spa or gym; lounging on the deck or in the library; or taking a nap in our staterooms.

The staff and crew gave daily presentations on topics ranging from Japanese history to its current obsession with exotic ice cream flavors.

The quaint villages we explored had at least one ice cream shop that showcased this national trend. They demonstrated Japanese ingenuity in the often unusual — if not downright bizarre — flavors, such as wasabi, squid ink, gold leaf, red bean, miso and sweet potato. I indulged often, though I stayed away from the more offbeat flavors.

National parks

Since this cruise’s theme was the national parks, art and culture of Japan, we visited

several of Japan’s 34 national parks. From waterfalls to scenic hikes; placid lakes to migratory birds soaring over idyllic wetlands; a bay cruise among hundreds of pine-covered islands to cable cars hovering over steep, lush forests — the natural attractions were diverse and often breathtaking.

My favorite park was Akiyoshido Cave, one of the largest limestone caves in Japan. A one-kilometer path winds through the cave along a roaring underground river, through a soaring cavern and past astounding stalactites and stalagmites. Since my youth, when I was an avid reader of science fiction, I’ve always been interested in the otherworldly, and my leisurely stroll through this subterranean wonderland scratched this ethereal itch.

Art museums

Many of our daily options included visits to art museums, craft shops and galleries. I especially enjoyed the Adachi Museum of Art, which is a 45-minute ride from the port of Sakaiminato. This museum is renowned for its collection of modern Japanese art, as well as its award-winning gardens.

I appreciated the soft, graceful art of Yokayama Taikan, a pioneer in the development of pre-WWII Japanese painting. Most of his paintings depict landscapes swirling with clouds, mist and fog. The minimal shapes, subtle shades and gentle monochromatic gradations soothed me

like no other art ever has.

Peaceful culture

Nothing has shaped contemporary Japanese culture more, particularly its attitudes toward war and peace, than the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

We made a short but impactful visit to the city to see the Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park and, most moving of all, the Children’s Peace Monument. At the monument, a large group of schoolchildren recited and sang what I assume was a wish for peace. We didn’t understand the words, but we felt the meaning and intent. Many of us, including yours truly, dabbed more than one tear from our eyes.

Traditional Japanese culture is perhaps best reflected in the Japanese garden. Among the ones we visited were two of the most famous gardens in Japan. The first was the extensive, award-winning garden that adjoins the Adachi Museum of Art. The mix of forests, grassy hills, rocks, ponds, streams, bridges, pavilions, gravel lawns and waterfalls is framed by mountains in the background, a “borrowed landscape” that is not actually part of the garden but enhances its beauty.

The other was the Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, on Shikoku Island. We spent a good two hours wandering through its

Miyajima Island, located an hour from Hiroshima, is known as “shrine island” for its famous Shinto shrine. The Buddhist Daisho-in Temple is also located on the island.

Explore Minute Man National Historical Park. See story on page 16.

Tourists can ride on a traditional Japanese boat in Ritsurin Garden, one of the country’s oldest “strolling gardens,” maintained for almost 400 years.

PHOTO BY RICHARD CHEEK

Revolutionary road trip to Massachusetts

By Glenda C. Booth

As our nation begins the celebration of its birth 250 years ago (our “semi-quincentennial”), a road trip to Massachusetts can bring to life historic events and the American revolutionary spirit.

The state started celebrating on April 18, 2025, with a re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington by the Lexington Minute Men. At 5:15 a.m., folks in period costume replicated the day in 1775 when the British sent 700 soldiers from Boston, some 20 miles away, to destroy ammunition and other supplies there.

The town’s militia confronted them, and a battle — some say a skirmish — ensued, leaving eight colonists dead and 10 wounded. “The first blood was spilt,” wrote George Washington, and the American Revolutionary War began.

Lexington, then, made the perfect starting point for a closer look at this chapter of U.S. history. My walking tour was a refresher of my high school history class. I started in the history museum and then explored the 1710 Buckman Tavern, where the militia awaited the Redcoats. The bell in the Old Belfry, erected in 1762, summoned the militia and rang out the alarm that the British were coming. The Munroe Tavern, which British troops seized during the war, hosted both Wash-

ington and the Marquis de Lafayette after the war; it’s now a museum.

After Lexington, the Brits marched to Concord to ransack more supplies. I spent some time in the Concord Museum, which has more artifacts from April 1775 (including Paul Revere’s iron-and-glass lantern that signaled the British arrival) than any other museum.

Minute Man National Historical Park, located in nearby Lincoln, tells the story of these early conflicts amid a still-pastoral landscape. The visitor center’s film recounts how these men, named because they were ready to fight on a moment’s notice, bravely took up arms against trained British forces.

To get to the park, take the scenic Battle Road Trail, the British retreat route that retains several houses associated with the battle — and the spot where British forces captured Paul Revere and ended his famous midnight ride.

The Old North Bridge over the Concord River in the park was another battle site. Ralph Waldo Emerson later immortalized the bridge in his 1837 poem “Concord Hymn” about the start of the Revolutionary War, coining the phrase “the shot heard ‘round the world.” (Historians debate which was the first shot, who fired it and why.)

On the bridge stands a seven-foot bronze statue made from a Civil War cannon.

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Known as Minute Man, the statue was the first commission for David Chester French, who later carved Abraham Lincoln in Washington’s Lincoln Memorial.

Revolutionary thinkers

The area’s history started long before 1775, of course. The Concord Museum’s

exhibits relate that Indigenous people wintered in the area 10,000 years ago. The Algonquin called the region “water running through grasses.” English settlers displaced most of them.

I meandered along Main Street in

The Concord Museum, which hosts outdoor historical reenactments like the one above, displays artifacts related to Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott, who lived in the town. Many houses in Concord were stops on the Underground Railroad.

PHOTO BY MIKE RITTER

Massachusetts

From page 16

Concord, which looks much as it did in Colonial times, with the addition of several hip restaurants. The 1716 Colonial Inn and 1747 Wright Tavern don’t serve food anymore, but they’re both open for tours.

The Lexington-Concord area was home to revolutionary free thinkers in the 19th century: Emerson, Louisa May Alcott and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson drafted his essay “Nature” in the Old Manse, a 1770 Georgian clapboard house. You can also visit Orchard House, known as “the Home of Little Women,” because it’s where Alcott wrote her book in 1868.

At the Concord Museum, I browsed its 250 Thoreau-related artifacts, the most

Japan

From page 15

forests and along its koi-filled streams, observing its teahouses, pavilions, colorful water lilies, bridges and stone lanterns.

Smaller, more intimate gardens surrounded the many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines we visited, like the Daishoin Temple. Maybe it was the steep hill, the time of day, or the lure of stores in the charming town below offering fried oysters and “deer poop” ice cream (with chunks of chocolate) inspired by the is-

anywhere, including the green desk he bought for $1. Another attention-getter is Alcott’s teakettle from her days as a Civil War nurse in a Union hospital in Washington, D.C., where she said she wished she were a man.

In the mid-1800s, Concord was a hotbed of abolitionists, some who founded the Female Anti-Slavery Society. Thoreau’s sisters were members. This hub of activism attracted notables like Harriet Tubman, John Brown and Frederick Douglass. Many of the houses still standing today were stops on the Underground Railroad.

Walden Pond, where Thoreau wrote Walden, is two miles from downtown Concord. Visitors can walk along the lake’s woodsy trails and see a replica of the 1840s cabin he built at age 28.

land’s famous wild deer, but for several tranquil minutes I had the pond, pavilion and garden all to myself.

In Japan’s small cities and countryside, I found intimacy and calm. If I were rich, I would buy a house with lots of ground, cover the walls of the house with Yokayama Taikan wall hangings and screens, and install a Japanese garden or two. Then I would throw away my blood pressure meds and spend a good portion of the day just gazing, strolling and chilling out.

Heritage Expeditions hosted Don Mankin on this trip.

As Americans ponder the origins of America’s independence, this hub of revolutionary thinking and activism affirms the fundamentals of our democracy and the

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need to preserve them.

For upcoming events, see tourlexington.us/ events, lexington250.com/events or visitconcord.org/concord-250/concord-250-events.

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Sunstone Therapies is currently recruiting participants for a Phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of up to two doses of psilocybin for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adults with cancer. For more information or to sign up for the study, visit bit.ly/SunstoneStudy or call (301) 750-3401.

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BALTIMORE LIBRARY OF THINGS

Borrow more than just books. The Baltimore Library of Things has board games, cameras, Chromebooks, fishing poles, musical instruments and more. For more information or to check something out, visit bit.ly/libraryofthingsBCPL or call your local library branch.

York City Day Trips andWednesdays

Atlantic City Day Trips August 24, August 31* September 1* *Enjoy Labor Day at the Beach! Ocean City Day Trips August 24 and Sunfest on October 24 Harriet Tubman The Total Experience Tour & Lunch September 9 Niagara Falls and Toronto – 5 days/4 Nights September 14–18 and September 21–25 Brooklyn Pizza Tour and Coney Island September 24 New York Botanical Gardens –Van Gogh exhibit October 14 Brooklyn Chocolate Tour and Coney Island October 14 Greenbrier Resort – 3 Days/2 Nights November 9 – November 11 St Alban’s Christmas House Tour –Washington DC December 5

& 11

Arts & Style

For entertaining biographies, see reviews on opposite page.

Local art professor focuses on painting

By Laura Melamed

Baltimore painter Barbara Epstein Gruber, 67, had a discouraging start to her art career.

Her early artistic aspirations were interrupted when her mother discovered her, at age six, “going full-Rembrandt on the wall behind the living room couch. This Crayola-on-plaster endeavor went largely unappreciated,” according to Gruber’s biography on the Maryland State Arts Council website.

“I can still hear her screaming,” Gruber said, smiling, in an interview with the Beacon. “I’m sure it wasn’t the masterpiece I thought it was,” she said with a laugh. “I’m sure that I improved.”

Apparently she has. Today Gruber’s work appears in galleries and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe. Last year the International Institute of Color and Theory in Bucharest, Romania, chose her as artist in residence.

Gruber is rooted in her hometown, though — she’s a painting instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and Johns Hopkins University. This summer, one of her paintings was displayed in

Creative Alliance’s 30th anniversary exhibition, near Patterson Park.

Art found a way

After a rocky start, Gruber was back to drawing as a teenager, using her parents’ walls as a canvas — with permission. She has now inherited her childhood home.

“I did a mural of Middle Earth after we moved here,” she said on a recent afternoon, gesturing to her kitchen wall, “which my mother could not wait to paint over.” (She did.)

These days, Gruber paints on canvases in her former dining room and back yard. Her recent paintings hang on the walls all over her house.

Gruber married young, at age 18, and had a son. She didn’t return to school until 1981, when she took a technical illustration, drafting and drawing course at Catonsville Community College.

“I really loved drawing, and I thought, well, that’s what I want to do. And they said, ‘Go see this teacher and ask him if he thinks you’ve got what it takes.’ He looked at my work, and he said, ‘This is not art. And you are not an artist.’”

Discouraged, Gruber decided to be a drafter instead, so she worked for surveyors and drafters for the next 15 years. Gruber got work as a technical illustrator with

where she designed patches and did drawings for

Peace of Mind is Priceless

Architecture Engineering Inc.,

Barbara Gruber worked as an illustrator and animator before going to art school to pursue painting. “I really wanted to paint,” she said. “It was the only thing I felt was important.”

Biographies about men in show business

By Joshua Z. Rokach

Making it in show business requires talent and dedication from the producer, performers and writers. Recent biographies of three iconic individuals reveal the struggles behind creating enduring cultural monuments.

Carson the Magnificent, by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas, 336 pages, Simon & Schuster, 2024

As we all remember, Ed McMahon opened “The Tonight Show” with his signature line, “Heeere’s Johnny.” This comprehensive biography, 22 years in the making, raises the more important question, “Who was Johnny?”

ensemble, he generously prolonged careers (Jack Benny) and launched others (David Letterman, Jerry Seinfeld and many more).

Bill Zehme, a magazine journalist who died before completing this biography, and Mike Thomas of Chicago, a profiler of celebrities, reveal the dark side of their subject. Carson hated his mother, and as an adult, he struggled to maintain family relationships. He abused his wives. He drank too much. He alienated his sons. One of them committed suicide, a death his father never got over.

as America’s most influential television show. Chevy Chase’s pratfalls as Gerald Ford, Steve Martin’s “Excuuuuse me” and other funny moments will live forever.

Where did the show come from? In a new book released in March, timed for this fall’s 50th anniversary of the blockbuster show, Susan Morrison, articles editor of The New Yorker, tells us: from Lorne Michaels (nee Lipowitz) of Toronto.

The book’s structure follows SNL’s weekly production schedule: Monday through Saturday (and a coda called “After Saturday”).

wife, the daughter of comedian Frank Shuster, of Wayne and Shuster, who hold the record for most appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Shuster taught Michaels the intricacies of standup comedy.

Some performers project their personalities into their craft (think Zero Mostel). Others hide their insecurity and morph into other personas when the lights go on (think Henry Fonda).

Carson remains more complicated. He presented himself as a humble Nebraskan, the genial host of “Who Do You Trust?”, the droll performer — as in the psychic Carnac the Magnificent — the gentle host (even while eviscerating guests like the Amazing Kreskin).

Off camera, too: In choosing his nightly

Maybe the answer lies in Carson’s keen lifelong interest in magic and his act as “Carsoni” early in his career. Like a magician, Carson concealed his reality with deliberate effort in his professional, but not private, life.

Come to your own conclusion.

Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, by Susan Morrison, 656 pages, Random House, 2025 NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” may qualify

Morrison describes concept meetings, writers’ scripts, readthroughs, rehearsals, dress rehearsals and live performances. She details Michaels’ involvement, from hiring writers and actors to approving content. We learn of Lorne’s dexterity in dealing with big stars with fragile egos and the mixed results of his battles with NBC executives (including his five-year banishment).

The author includes the story of young Lorne’s chance meeting with his future first

Lorne preferred analyzing audience tastes and proper presentation rather than performance. Changing his mind, he moved from Toronto to the U.S., where he caught two important breaks. Howard Cosell’s ABC variety show took the name “Saturday Night Live” but bombed. Johnny Carson reduced his workload, forcing NBC to transfer his reruns to weeknights. The network saw live TV as the cheapest way to fill the gap, so SNL took off.

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words, by Michael Owen, 416 pages, Liveright, 2024

Born Israel Gershovitz on the Lower East Side of New York, Ira Gershwin was a shy kid who in high school showed a knack for words. Later he served as a lyricist-collaborator to his younger brother,

From page 1

learn this music.”

One of his greatest teachers was Miles Davis. One day in 1970, Bartz got a phone call from Davis, who invited him to join his band. The one-year stint was the best schooling for Bartz, who learned firsthand from Davis how to learn just by listening carefully to performances.

“I don’t know anyone who could listen better and harder than Miles,” he said.

Bartz formed his own band, Ntu (pronounced “into”) Troop, and performed all over the world. He recorded perhaps his most famous album, “I’ve Known Rivers”

From page 18

their reports. She eventually got a job as an animator.

“But I was always drawing,” she said. In her free time, she would paint for other people. Her boss, for instance, hired her to paint a mural on his daughter’s bedroom wall.

At the same time, Gruber started going to drawing groups, where she found opportunities to network for jobs. One of the women in the drawing groups worked at a company called Microprose, which hired Gruber, too.

— named for a line in a Langston Hughes poem — in Switzerland at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival.

Younger generation

Bartz has also lived in Italy, Spain and France but now has a home in Oakland, California. He spends a lot of time in Ohio as well; he has been a professor of jazz saxophone at Oberlin College since 2001.

“I play [saxophone] every day. If I’m teaching school, I’m playing,” he said.

In addition to collaborating with his students in class, Bartz links up with younger musicians often, introducing jazz to new generations. For instance, last year he released an album with two hip-hop artists

“At Microprose, I realized you could learn to paint,” Gruber said, noting that most of her co-workers had studied at MICA.

“They were really wonderful painters and artists. And then all the women were fired in my department.”

Losing her job was a turning point for Gruber. When she filed for unemployment, she discovered that the state would pay for a training program. “And college was considered a training program,” she said.

So, in her 30s, Gruber went to art school. She attended MICA from 1994 to 1997. During the summer, she took cours-

on the “Jazz Is Dead” label, a tongue-incheek name for a series of cross-generational albums and concerts. The project recognizes that “the spirit of jazz — the innovation, the rebellion, the soul — has never stopped evolving,” as their website puts it.

Even in his 80s, Bartz travels the world to perform at jazz festivals. He had concerts in Australia and the Netherlands earlier this year. In August he flew to Japan for a series of performances at Blue Note Tokyo, then back to the States to Chicago, New York and the DC JazzFest at the end of the month.

“We’ve been busy this year,” he admitted.

es at community college because it was more affordable. Then her health started to decline.

“Nobody knew what was wrong with me, and I was exhausted. I gained 50 pounds, and I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I thought I was going to die,” she said. “It was really scary.”

Gruber was determined to continue school despite her illness, which turned out to be hypothyroidism.

“I was going to learn to paint before I died,” she said. “It was almost as important as making sure my [teenage] son was all right.”

But, as research shows, music is good for the brain. Bartz remembers playing with the jazz drummer Roy Haynes when he was almost 100 years old.

“He acted just the same as when I first met him. Even with dementia, musically he was always there,” Bartz said.

Not all musicians make it to their 90s, of course. Baltimore’s most famous jazz singer, Billie Holiday, died at 44. Charlie Parker, Bartz’s inspiration, died at 34.

A reporter once asked, “Mr. Parker, are you a religious man?” Parker, an atheist replied, “Yes, I am a devout musician.”

That’s the kind of devotion Bartz has sustained throughout his life. As he says often, “Music is my religion.”

to get her Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College. Then she started teaching classes as an adjunct professor, while also painting portraits in her free time.

“I really wanted to paint portraits,” she said. “It was the only thing I felt was important.”

But Gruber became a landscape painter when she developed an allergy to turpentine. Again, a disadvantage turned out to have a bright side. No longer able to tolerate indoor fumes, she discovered she liked painting outside — it gave her a sense of accomplishment to complete a painting while battling the elements.

Misdiagnosed for years, she was relieved when she was finally prescribed a thyroid hormone. “I remember the day I woke up and knew I was going to live — and have to pay back my student loans.”

Painting indoors and outdoors

After Gruber graduated from MICA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she went on

Gruber lives with her husband, Steve, and their feisty dog. After years of working full-time jobs and juggling classes, Gruber is happy to focus mainly on painting.

“My dream is to wake up in the morning — and maybe we go out for a run,” Gruber said as she wrangled her excitable puppy, “and then the only thing I have to think about is, ‘What am I going to paint today?’”

RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

The Maryland Renaissance Festival returns Sat., Aug. 23 and runs Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day Monday (with free admission for 62 and older on Sept. 1) through Sun., Oct. 19. Enjoy more than 200 professional performers, jousting, food and handmade crafts. The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1821 Crownsville Rd., Annapolis. Tickets are $26 for adults, $23 for seniors and $14 for kids. For more information, visit rennfest.com or call (410) 266-7304.

George, and other composers during Broadway’s Golden Age.

As a lyricist, Gershwin sometimes had to contort himself, writing coherently to cover the number of musical beats. The opposite problem arose when the words came first. The composer could not always write intelligible music to fit. Ira’s innovation: both at once, true collaboration.

Michael Owen, co-archivist of the Ira

Letters to the editor

From page 2

From the Publisher:

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your concerns.

We respect that many individuals feel strongly about the importance of adopting pets from shelters and rescue organizations. In fact, Maryland enacted a law in 2020 generally banning the sale of cats and dogs in retail pet stores.

However, Maryland law specifically permits responsible individual breeders to sell

Gershwin Estate, richly chronicles his subject’s life while addressing broader issues. What comes first, music or words? How does one cope with the death of a younger sibling, whether at an early age (George) or old age, especially when one thinks, as did Ira, he could have prevented it?

George complained of headaches, which Ira and the family downplayed, until they became terminal cancer. He died at age 38. Ira coped by playing Gershwin songs and promoting George’s legacy. For nearly 50 years, Ira felt his late brother’s presence.

dogs and cats directly to the public. The advertiser in question, a specialty cat breeder in Laurel, adheres to state laws, to the best of our knowledge.

Our classified advertising policy permits legal businesses and services to promote themselves, provided they meet ethical and regulatory standards.

We are grateful to have readers like you who care deeply about the welfare of animals and the integrity of our publication. Your feedback is always welcome and helps inform our editorial and advertising decisions moving forward.

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Join the Gallery at CCBC Catonsville to celebrate the works of 12 octogenarian artists. Enjoy free refreshments and talk to the artists on Sat., Sept. 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. or come to the free exhibit from now through Sat., Oct. 4 during gallery hours at 800 S Rolling Rd., Catonsville. For more information and gallery hours, visit thegalleriesatccbc.com or call (410) 840-5697.

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Operation Paws for Homes (OPH) is a nonprofit organization devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation and placement of dogs and cats. The average fostering period is two weeks but can be as short as an overnight stay. OPH offers support and covers all veterinary expenses and pet supplies. For more information or to volunteer, visit bit.ly/CatFosterBalt or call (703) 344-7320.

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Scrabble answers on p. 21.

Crossword Puzzle

Find Four Planets By Stephen Sherr

Across

1. Piece of graduation regalia

5. A double rainbow has two

9. ___ Breaky Heart

13. Ralph Lauren brand

14. Entices

16. “State your ___: guilty or not guilty”

17. Tylenol and fentanyl

19. Regular at Cheers

20. AL, AK, AZ, AR, AS, CA, and CO

22. On the summit of

23. Iron-containing compound (and an anagram of AHEM”)

25. Risk game boards

28. Place to board the B&O

30. ___ little dance...

32. Floaters in hot chocolate

37. Doctrines

38. Cool and distant

39. Visiting our solar system’s most volcanic moon

40. “It gave me the ick”

43. Pull a boat into harbor

44. Network-based med. plan

45. The longest periods of geologic time

46. It may help pay an Argentine fine

48. “If the ___ fits, wear it”

51. Poverty

58. Right-hand man

60. Chapter in a literary anthology

61. Some say that omega-3 fatty acids enhance it

62. Brief and to the point

63. First name in M*A*S*H opening credits

64. Undersized

65. No longer obscured

66. Members of a coven

Down

1. Relaxation destinations

First-rate

Russian or Pole

The lowest-calorie part of a donut

5. Native Alaskan

6. Actress/model Rene

7. Apple dessert with a sweet topping

8. Religious offshoot

9. Sleep condition that affects about 25% of adults

10. Prepared for the siege

11. That girl

12. Thanksgiving ingredient

15. They assign you a nbr. just after birth

18. Grind your teeth

21. Leave frozen chicken on the counter

24. Recurring elements in art

25. Combination of elements from different sources in art

26. Final showdown between good and evil

27. “Hey, buddy...”

28. Jukebox orifice

29. Protein on the vegan menu

31. Beginning on

32. Item in a catcher’s travel bag

33. Wham bam thank you ___

34. In addition

35. Hawaii’s Mauna ___ volcano

36. Lead singer for U2

41. “Slow down please, Trigger”

42. Good locations for scuba diving

47. Disreputable

48. Like a sailor on ___ leave

49. Athlete at Pimlico

50. Between “sometimes” and “usually”

52. These three are all up to U

53. First words in titles of most books about hobbits

54. State represented at the Four Corners Monument

55. Easier name for “The Big Easy”

56. RuPaul’s ___ Race

57. Misdeed, violation, and transgression, e.g.

58. Rock (concert) blaster

59. All the vowels in “PIOUS”

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HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

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

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

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