Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 96

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ISSUE 96 VOLUME 18

April 16, 2020

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES!

Memo Ordering NYC Schools to Keep Virus Cases Quiet Probed

BY GREG B. SMITH, THE CITY he Special Commissioner for Investigations for city schools is probing the Department of Education’s bid to squelch coronavirus infection information in the chaotic days before schools were closed.

The investigation comes in response to a report by THE CITY revealing an internal memo advising school officials to not report cases of teachers or staff who tested positive for COVID-19 or were likely infected to the city Health Department.

Following the story, Councilmember Robert Holden (D-Queens) asked Special

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continued on page 5

SLCC Calls for Open Dialogue....22

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza speaks at a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

IRS Warns of Coronavirus-related Scams... see page 8

Masks or Face Coverings Required in NY mid the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced he will issue an Executive Order requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained, such as on public transportation. The Executive Order will go into effect on Friday, April 17. l

A Govornor Cuomo

Health Care Directives ....13

Knowledge is Power when you use it!

Get a FREE Consultation!

Ask the Lawyer: Call 855-768-8845 Rihanna Is Trying to Save the World ....15

Brian Figeroux, Esq., Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

COVID-19 and Workers Compensation ... 11

Broadcaster Gil Bailey dies at 84 cardiac arrest resulting from the novel coronavirus disease, at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

Known as the Godfather, Bailey launched The Gil Bailey Show in New York in 1969. He and his wife Pat cohosted that program on Caribbean radio

BY HOWARD BAILEY, SENIOR WRITER JAMAICA OBSERVER roadcaster Gil Bailey, a pioneer of Caribbean radio in New York, died yesterday at age 84. His daughter, Jacqueline Bailey-Faulks, told the Jamaica Observer that he died from

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The Godfather, Gil Bailey Photo: jamaicanobserver.com

continued on page 6

Charlie’s Daughter, NY Liberty Star Tina Charles Traded ....18

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CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT

Caribbean Consulates Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Antigua & Barbuda 305 East 47th Street, Suite 6A New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117 The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

Caribbean at Risk as Big Powers Delay Action on COVID-19 Global Economic Effects

BY SIR RONALD SANDERS ASHINGTON: Despite a lofty statement on March 26, the world’s richest nations, the G20, have responded poorly to the devastating effects that COVID-19 is having on the global economy, particularly small and vulnerable states.

The G20 pledged to “work swiftly and decisively with the front-line international organizations, notably the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and multilateral and regional development banks to deploy a robust, coherent, coordinated, and rapid financial package and to address any gaps in their toolkit”.

Yet, there is a marked absence of international consultation and global solidarity.

Instead, wealthy nations have retreated into nationalism, protectionism, and isolationism.

In the absence of a coherent international response, small and vulnerable states, especially those that are highly reliant on tourism, will be the worst victims. For at least two years after COVID19 is brought under control, the economies of these countries, will languish in economic lassitude and regression, causing social discontent, disquiet and, maybe, even disorder.

The United States (US), which should be the leader of global action, has been prominent in its inaction. Preoccupied with Presidential elections in November and the rising number of deaths and the declining performance of the economy, the US government and the Congress are both focused on “America first”.

No one can blame them for attention to their country’s needs, but the adverse effects of COVID-19 cannot be surmounted by “America only”. The US relies on the rest of the world to be a vibrant market for its goods and services.

When the economies of these countries contract and their earnings decline, their capacity to buy from the US shrinks and so do their imports of US goods and services that maintain US employment and revenues.

Apart from a statement on April 7 that the US had mobilized “US$6 million to provide test kits to Barbados and more than 60 other countries to fight the spread of COVID-19” – about US$10,000 per county – there has been no announcement by the US government of any initiative to provide funds that would help developing countries, especially those in its immediate neighborhood, to cope with the grave blows to their economies.

It must be hoped that this is a delay and not a decision, and that US leadership that has, in the past, contributed to global recovery will emerge once again.

Similarly, while on April 8 the European Union (EU) announced that €918 million (US$1 billion) will be allo-

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China’s response has not matched its economic and financial capacity. But it has the opportunity now to provide global leadership. cated “to support our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean”, no details have been given of who will be the beneficiaries and on what basis. On April 3, the EU announced a grant of US$8.6 million to help the Caribbean fight the coronavirus outbreak. Roughly that sum works out to US$57,000 each for 15 countries, while these countries have had to spend tens of millions. The EU failed to mobilize a plan for its own membership. Instead, member countries of the Community unilaterally imposed restrictions on each other, stopping transport links without coordination. Every country withdrew into its own cocoon.

Notwithstanding its medical supplies to some countries, China, too, has announced no proposals for a Fund of its own to help vulnerable developing countries to cope with the economic battering they are enduring.

China’s response has not matched its economic and financial capacity. But it has the opportunity now to provide global leadership. There has never been any better or important time for China to give meaning to its often-stated commitment to South-South co-operation. It has a real chance to bolster its standing as well as to protect its loan investments in many of the affected countries.

These countries, particularly the tourism dependent ones, have lost as much as 20 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2020, and the next two quarters will be no better. Their expenditures have spiked in the construction of quarantine facilities; purchases of emergency medical equipment and test kits; and management of the virus. Unbudgeted expenditure has also had to be made to cushion the shocks to the vulnerable who have been laid-off or had their incomes slashed as planes stop flying, cruise ships stop docking, and hotels close.

Amid all this, government revenues have been drastically reduced. They simply cannot continue to service international debts, including loan repayments to China.

This situation will get worse for many Caribbean countries whose economies rely heavily on tourism. The World Travel and Tourism Council has projected a global loss of 75 million jobs and $2.1 trillion in revenue. As job losses reach stunning figures in the US, UK and EU, it will be close to two years, after shutdowns around the world are lifted, before tourism re-emerges as a major contributor to economic growth.

Throughout that period, small and vulnerable economies will flounder irreparably unless there is international direct help – bilaterally and internationally.

On March 30, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, wrote to the Heads of the IMF and the World Bank proposing measures to help small and vulnerable economies, including “suspension of per capita income as criteria for concessional financing; debt relief including suspension of debt payments, write-offs of aged debt particularly by the Paris Club; and budgetary support through a mix of grants and low-cost loans on a country by country basis”.

Such an effort needs the urgent support of the US, China, and the EU – each of which, for different reasons, should have a vested interest in political stability and economic security in the Caribbean.

The G20 countries stated that they “are injecting over US$5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic”. The rest of the world should be vocal in holding the G20 countries to their word.l

Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan academic, diplomat and former broadcast-journalist who is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States; he is also non-resident High Commissioner to Canada.

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3

ELECTIONS 2020

1 in 10 Eligible Voters Is Now an Immigrant. Here’s Why That Matters for America.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6 Publisher I.Q. INC. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Pearl Phillip Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq.

BY WALTER EWING mmigrants are participating in the U.S. political process in record numbers, which is a clear sign of successful integration into American society. In fact, nearly one out of every 10 eligible voters in the United States is now an immigrant.

That means at least 10 percent of the electorate has a personal connection to the immigrant experience. This has the potential to make a larger percentage of the voting population more attuned to the politics that underlie immigration.

An analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center indicates that the number of eligible immigrant voters has grown by 93 percent over the past two decades. It spiked from 12 million in 2000 to 23.2 million in 2020. The immigrant share of all eligible voters during that period has increased from 6.2 percent of the total to 9.8 percent.

Census data shows that: •A majority of immigrant voters are Latino or Asian. Latinos comprised just over a third of all immigrant voters in 2018, while Asians accounted for under a third.

•The largest numbers of immigrant voters were born in Mexico (3.5 million), the Philippines (1.4 million), and India (1.2 million).

•States with the largest immigrant populations—California, New York, Florida, and Texas—are also home to the most immigrant eligible voters. Together, these states account for 56 percent of all

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Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Anvaar Sabirov Intern Isata Batchilly immigrant voters in the country.

•Since 2000, the states with the fastestgrowing immigrant eligible voter populations have been Georgia, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

Even so, voter turnout rates among immigrant voters lag behind those of the native-born. Many face greater barriers to the polls.

Restrictive voter registration policies disadvantage minorities. Not everyone has the privilege to take time off work to stand in line at a polling place. And there may also be less outreach to immigrant communities by politicians.

In 2016, 62 percent of eligible nativeborn voters actually voted in the presidential election. This is compared to just 54 percent of eligible immigrant voters.

But in the Latino and Asian communities, immigrants turn out to vote more often than their native-born counterparts.

Unfortunately, the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic will prevent many new citizens from being able to participate in our next election.

At the end of March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services closed all of its offices to the public. This has caused significant delays in the processing of all immigration applications.

In-person citizenship interviews and naturalization ceremonies are temporarily suspended due to social distancing guidelines for the coronavirus. As a result, an estimated 441,000 immigrants may not become citizens in time to participate in the 2020 elections.

These delays aside, it’s clear that immigrants in the United States are joining in the political process in large numbers.

Together with their native-born fellow voters, they are taking an active role in shaping the future of their country. This reflects a strong sense of belonging to the society in which they have made their homes.

This sense of belonging and participation in the political process has the potential to shape American politics for years to come. l

Contributors Jennine Estes Erin Telesford Janet Howard Mary Campbell Tarsha Gibbons Travis Morales Email info@myiqinc.com Telephone 718-771-0988 Website www.cawnyc.com

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4

CIVIL RIGHTS

What Social Justice Movements Can Learn from the Medical Response to the Coronavirus

BY MOHAMMED NAEEM

Our movements must become more collaborative. This is necessary whether we want to achieve universal civil rights or build fair economies. Just as medical teams are working together to combat the virus, we must emulate their strategies.

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cross the country, communities are responding to the coronavirus pandemic by working to protect our poor, elderly, and compromised. Critical to the response are the efforts of the medical and scientific community. Thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from diverse backgrounds–including reenlisting retirees–are serving on the frontline to treat those who fall ill.

Those working in social justice movements can learn a lot from the swift and meaningful collaboration of the medical community.

Their effort relies on a network of global practitioners, mobilizing insights that ensure breakthroughs at unprecedented speed. Their response holds lessons for many of us, especially those trying to protect our most marginalized.

Our movements must become more collaborative. This is necessary whether we want to achieve universal civil rights or build fair economies. Just as medical teams are working together to combat the virus, we must emulate their strategies.

We need problem identification, idea sharing, open-sourcing research, and delegation of resources.

Rather than duplicating efforts, the scientific community builds on one another’s discoveries. They often join in mutual victory. Their competitive edge is solely focused on defeating the virus. In this crisis, no one tries to undermine each other.

This is a vast departure from how movements operate, often working in silos. Our competition doesn’t spur innovative ideas. Instead, we wrestle over limited resources and public attention.

Over time, this process prevents the acceleration of progress and full equality.

Moving forward, we ought to build on each other’s work so that we’re able to drive the most pressing solutions.

Building a cooperative approach will require leaders to partner across issues and sectors. This would create space for intellectual diversity. It would challenge our biases and assumptions. We could redefine the problem in unique ways and organize new allies. And by establishing collective goals, we would avoid sacrificing one vulnerable community for another.

Imagine, if on the other side of the curve, we emphasize connection, advocate for common values, celebrate our resilience, and honor all our contributions. Our commitment to such healing would champion demographic and ideological diversity, rather than pitting us against each other. In effect, this would leave no community behind.

If we embark on such a journey, the bitterness of our politics could be supplanted by social solidarity and cohesion, the likes of which our country has never seen.l

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5

HOT TOPIC

any school to call DOHMH to report potential or confirmed cases,” the memo states. “DOHMH is receiving information…about positive test results strictly from laboratories. We can support our colleagues at DOHMH by keeping their phones clear to speak with laboratories.”

Virus Memo/continued from page 1 Commissioner for Investigations Anastasia Coleman to look into the origin of the memo — and whether it contributed to the spread of the virus within schools before Mayor Bill de Blasio reluctantly announced on March 15 that schools would be shuttered.

In an interview Tuesday with THE CITY, Holden said he believes the March 10 memo was intended to help cover up the scope of the spread of the virus within the city public education system to justify keeping schools open amid an avalanche of pressure.

“A lot of teachers were calling us and saying, ‘Why aren’t the schools closed?

We have some staff who are infected,’” Holden recalled.

“This is the DOE’s M.O., this is how they operate. They were trying to cover up. They were saying to us, they want to cover this up, we don’t want to cause mass hysteria,” he said.

A Wave of Deaths On March 30, SCI investigator Hector Rivera notified Holden, “I am assigned and investigating the allegations of negligence by the Department of Education, regarding the COVID-19 cases in the city schools.”

On Tuesday, Regina Gluzmanova, a SCI spokesperson, declined to discuss the investigation, stating, “SCI is in receipt of the Council Member’s letter and will not comment any further on an open investigation.”

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza speaks at a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

The Department of Education confirmed this week that 50 public school staff, including 21 teachers, have died of COVID-19 illness since the pandemic hit the city.

As pressure mounted last month to shut the schools, de Blasio resisted the call, saying he feared the closure would hurt families who need their children to be in school while they’re working.

On March 4, THE CITY reported on a teacher who’d returned from a coronavirus hotspot in Italy and was displaying symptoms of the virus but couldn’t get tested. Days later de Blasio agreed that teachers, first responders and city health care workers with likely symptoms and

travel histories should get tested.

At the time, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew criticized school officials for dragging their feet on testing teachers. As the days passed, Catholic schools closed, and one private school after another followed suit.

Then on March 10, with public schools still open, DOE management sent staff an internal memo advising them on how to handle the growing crisis. The memo specified that the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which was tracking the spread, should not be contacted.

“At the moment, there is no reason for

‘An Abundance of Caution’ Confronted about this at a news conference, Chancellor Richard Carranza defended the memo, stating, “With increasing numbers of people coming out, what we don’t want to do is inundate the Department of Health with these cases.”

Five days later, de Blasio announced the shutdown.

“Look at how many staff have died,” Holden told THE CITY Tuesday.

“Leaving these classrooms open for that many days was dangerous.”

On Tuesday, Miranda Barbot, a spokesperson for Carranza, said: “When school buildings were open, we received confirmations directly from the State Health Department, and our guidance ensured the city’s Department of Health’s lines remained open for New Yorkers.

“We immediately notified communities when there was a confirmed case by the State Health Department, which happened once, and out of an abundance of caution we closed six other sites that had self-reported cases.”l

This story was originally published on April 15, 2020 by THE CITY.

NEW YORKERS:

STAY HOME TO STOP THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS New Yorkers working together and staying home can slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York City. When you go out for essential needs, work or to get fresh air, keep distance between yourself and others and take the following precautions.

PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS • Keep at least 6 feet between yourself and others.

• Wash your hands with soap and water often.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing.

• Do not touch your face with unwashed hands.

• Monitor your health more closely than usual for cold or flu symptoms.

IF YOU ARE SICK • Stay home.

• If you have a cough, shortness of breath, fever, sore throat and do not feel better after 3-4 days, consult with your doctor.

• If you need help getting medical care, call 311.

• NYC will provide care regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.

PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE • Stay home if you have lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or a weakened immune system.

• Stay home and call, video chat or text with family or friends who have one of these conditions.

Text COVID to 692-692 for real-time updates or visit nyc.gov/coronavirus.

Call 311 to report harassment or discrimination. Call 888-NYC-WELL, text "WELL" to 65173 or chat online at nyc.gov/nycwell to connect with a counselor.

REDUCE OVERCROWDING • Stay home.

• Telecommute if possible.

If you do go out: • Stagger work hours away from peak travel times.

• Walk or bike.

• Do not gather in crowds.

Bill de Blasio Mayor Oxiris Barbot, MD Commissioner

*Messages and data rates may apply. Check your wireless provider plan for details.

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CARIBBEAN STAR Gil Bailey/continued from page 1

Gil and his wife Pat. Photo: Facebook.com

stations such as WHBI, WNWK and WPAT, catering to listeners in the tristate (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) area.

The show played reggae, calypso, soca and gospel music. Pat, whom he married in 1969, died in December 2016 at age 77.

Bailey, who was from the town of Bath in St Thomas, migrated to the United States in the late 1960s.

He was never formally trained as a broadcaster but the lack of Caribbean content on New York radio, made him a sensation in the Big Apple where there was a growing Jamaican population.

“Back then, you could count on one hand how many of us were on radio. I was able to corner and capture the Caribbean audience since folks from back home was dying to hear anything

'yaad' talk and 'yaad' music,” Bailey recalled in a 2018 interview with the Observer.

Clinton Lindsay of the Foundation Radio Network in South Florida started his broadcasting career in New York during the 1980s. He credits the trailblazing work of Bailey, and Jeff Barnes, for paving the way for him and his contemporaries.

“He was definitely the Godfather. I used to listen to him every day while I was in college and say, one day I will join him,” said Lindsay.

He remembers Bailey being abused by callers to his program for playing island music.

“He got a lot of blowback because he brought Jamaican music and culture to America, and for that I respected him even more.”

Last August, organizers of the Merritone Family Fun Day recognized Bailey's contribution to Caribbean broadcasting with a Golden Mic award during its annual event at Heckscher Park in Long Island, New York.

Pat Bailey, Barnes and Lindsay were also honored. One month before the Merritone event, Bailey launched The Gil Bailey Show on YouTube. Gil Bailey is survived by two daughters, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.l This story originally appeared on www.jamaicaobserver.com Republished with permission.

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Call for Rent Freeze

BY JANET HOWARD

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o money, no love. No money, no rent. The Coronavirus pandemic has left millions of people unemployed, estimating some 40% of New York tenants may not be able to pay rent this month. Homeowners can have their mortgage payments suspended for up to 90 days. However, renters do not enjoy the same level of relief. Joining lawmakers across the State, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio implored landlords to allow tenants to use their security deposits instead of rent and authorize other forms of payment forgiveness during this pandemic economic lockdown.

"If a tenant has no money, he has no money," de Blasio said during a press conference last Friday afternoon, in a straightforward urging to the city's powerful Rent Guidelines Board."We need a rent freeze. I am calling on the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze rents for all regulated apartments. I'm also asking the State to allow New Yorkers to pay rent with their security deposit. I want to see them act quickly," de Blasio added in a tweet Friday.

The mayor went on to say the Rent Guidelines Board denied his request.

The group representing the landlords of rent-controlled apartments throughout the five boroughs responded to the

mayor's request in a statement provided to WABC-TV: "Enacting another rent freeze will only expedite the deterioration of the City's aging housing stock, and will do nothing to aid tenants that are already struggling to pay the rent in the midst of this crisis.

"De Blasio also called on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to extend his 90-day moratorium on evictions to include a rent freeze for tenants in the short-term.

Damn High In addition to rent being too damn high, the majority of New York City landlords require the first and last months' rent in addition to a security deposit equal to another month' s-worth of rent. The statistics of hardship are real and astounding. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, about 17 million American workers filed for unemployment benefits in the past two weeks, with 6.6 million filing last week alone. In total, this accounts for 11 percent of the entire U.S. labor force.

Priority People can't afford to pay rent. What takes priority? Rent, food, or medicine?

The answer is obvious. New Yorkers need a rent freeze. It just makes sense. l

IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW?

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Get legal advice from the law firm you can trust: Figeroux & Associates.

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PUT YOUR FUTURE IN OUR HANDS. WE CAN HELP. CALL NOW. 718-222-3155.

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LIVE IN NYC? YES, you fill out the census.

The more New Yorkers who fill out the census, the more money we get for our: • Schools • Housing

• Senior Centers • Jobs

• Roads & Bridges • Hospitals

THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRATION OR CITIZENSHIP THE CENSUS IS EASY AND SAFE

Fill it out now at My2020census.gov or call 1-844-330-2020.

JUST 10 QUESTIONS:

NO QUESTIONS ABOUT:

BY LAW, YOUR RESPONSES CANNOT BE SHARED:

• Fill out online • By phone • By mail

• Immigration • Citizenship

• Not with ICE • Not with the police

• Your job • Social Security number

• Not with your landlord • Not with anyone

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TAX MATTERS

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IRS Issues Warning about Coronavirusrelated Scams

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ASHINGTON: The Internal Revenue Service urged taxpayers to be on the lookout for a surge of calls and email phishing attempts about the Coronavirus, or COVID-19. These contacts can lead to tax-related fraud and identity theft.

"We urge people to take extra care during this period. The IRS isn't going to call you asking to verify or provide your financial information so you can get an economic impact payment or your refund faster," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "That also applies to surprise emails that appear to be coming from the IRS. Remember, don't open them or click on attachments or links. Go to IRS.gov for the most up-to-date information."

Taxpayers should watch not only for emails but text messages, websites and social media attempts that request money or personal information.

"History has shown that criminals take every opportunity to perpetrate a fraud on unsuspecting victims, especially when a group of people is vulnerable or in a state of need," said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort. "While you are waiting to hear about your economic impact payment, criminals are

working hard to trick you into getting their hands on it. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is working hard to find these scammers and shut them down, but in the meantime, we ask people to remain vigilant."

Don't fall prey to Coronavirus tricks; retirees among potential targets The IRS and its Criminal Investigation Division have seen a wave of new and evolving phishing schemes against taxpayers. In most cases, the IRS will deposit economic impact payments into the direct deposit account taxpayers previously provided on tax returns. Those taxpayers who have previously filed but not provided direct deposit information to the IRS will be able to provide their banking information online to a newly designed secure portal on IRS.gov in mid-April. If the IRS does not have a taxpayer's direct deposit information, a check will be mailed to the address on file. Taxpayers should not provide their direct deposit or other banking information for others to input on their behalf into the secure portal.

The IRS also reminds retirees who don't normally have a requirement to file

a tax return that no action on their part is needed to receive their $1,200 economic impact payment. Seniors should be especially careful during this period. The IRS reminds retirees – including recipients of Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 − that no one from the agency will be reaching out to them by phone, email, mail or in person asking for any kind of information to complete their economic impact payment, also sometimes referred to as rebates or stimulus payments. The IRS is sending these $1,200 payments automatically to retirees – no additional action or information is needed on their part to receive this.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that scammers may: •Emphasize the words "Stimulus Check" or "Stimulus Payment." The official term is economic impact payment.

•Ask the taxpayer to sign over their economic impact payment check to them.

•Ask by phone, email, text or social media for verification of personal and/or banking information saying that the information is needed to receive or speed up their economic impact payment.

•Suggest that they can get a tax refund or

economic impact payment faster by working on the taxpayer's behalf. This scam could be conducted by social media or even in person.

•Mail the taxpayer a bogus check, perhaps in an odd amount, then tell the taxpayer to call a number or verify information online in order to cash it.

Reporting Coronavirus-related or other phishing attempts Those who receive unsolicited emails, text messages or social media attempts to gather information that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), should forward it to phishing@irs.gov.

Taxpayers are encouraged not to engage potential scammers online or on the phone. Learn more about reporting suspected scams by going to the Report Phishing and Online Scams page on IRS.gov.

Official IRS information about the COVID-19 pandemic and economic impact payments can be found on the Coronavirus Tax Relief page on IRS.gov.

The page is updated quickly when new information is available. l

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9

MONEY MATTERS

Seven Simple Secrets to Transform Your Financial Life

BY GINITA WALL, CPA, CFP®

P

ut down the lottery tickets! You don’t have to pray to the God of Powerball or wish on a shooting star to improve your financial life. You have the power to turn your finances around and sail into retirement on a metaphoric yacht of financial stability.

Change your habits and change your financial life with these seven simple secrets: 1. Save Every Month Sounds simple enough, but so many people don’t put money away each month.

Start by saving for a rainy day fund that covers 3 – 6 months of expenses, and then start researching mutual funds so you can earn interest and that sweet financial manna know as compound interest.

2. Put as Much Into Your 401k or IRA as Possible If you work for an employer that provides any percent match for your 401k contributions, that’s FREE MONEY! Go after that! Even if you don’t get a match from work, try to max out your 401k ($17,500 in 2014) or IRA ($5,500) or put as much away as you can. This money goes into

your 401k or IRA tax-free, which means all that extra tax-free money can grow and earn interest over the decades.

3. Buy Good Health Insurance The Affordable Care Act has made health insurance mandatory, but that doesn’t mean everyone will comply. If you don’t receive health insurance from your employer or are self-employed, buy health insurance even if you are healthy. If you get a cancer diagnosis or are in a bad car accident, your medical bills could easily wipe out your life savings.

4. Ask for a Raise Ladies, when is the last time you’ve asked for a raise? No, we don’t mean the 3% raise you get at your annual evaluation. A quick online search can show you what others are making in your field. Are you on par? If not, then arm yourself with this data and a list of all the reasons why you

are an awesome and critical employee and ask for a raise. If you get a no, it might be a sign to start looking for greener pastures.

5. Pay Your Mortgage Bi-Weekly Instead of Monthly If you were to take out a 30-year, $400,000 mortgage loan today at a 5% interest rate and make all your payments on time, you would end up shelling out $361,891 in interest over the life of the loan. Simply by paying this same mortgage bi-monthly (an option that most lenders allow), you would pay off your home four years sooner and save $68,713 in interest in the process. Think about what all of that money could do if it were in a mutual fund instead? You could save even more on interest if you paid just $100 extra on each bi-monthly payment.

6. Cut Up Your Credit Cards It’s so easy to swipe your credit card at the register and take home your purchases when the minimum monthly payments seem small and reasonable. However, when you use credit cards, it’s easy to lose sight of how much money you truly have.

All that extra debt you carry around will incur interest, and that interest will incur interest. If you have high-interest cards like department store credit cards, you could quickly slide into a huge debt hole without even realizing it. If you ever hit your credit limit, Game Over.

7. Learn a New Skill If you are not making enough money at work or dream of one day owning your own business (a risk that could pay off handsomely), learning a new skill can increase your value to your employer or give you something you can build your business around. Engineers are a dime a dozen, but what about an engineer who can also write clear and compelling marketing copy? That’s a girl who could probably ask for a raise and get it!l Reprinted with permission. Ginita is the co-founder of The Women’s Institute for Financial Education (wife.org)

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DIASPORA CONCERNS

10

Millions With Disabilities Cannot Get Food

W

ASHINGTON, D.C.: Millions of people with disabilities are unable to get food and medicine during the national pandemic emergency, according to the nonprofit advocacy group RespectAbility. The disability nonprofit organization recommends changes to the Food Stamp program, as well as urges governments, online retailers, faith and service organizations to help fill the void.

“If you are a person with disabilities at home alone and you’re under 60 or you live in a part of the country that is not served by a commercial food delivery service, you probably don’t know where your next meal is coming from,” said RespectAbility’s President, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi.

“Many of these folks are vulnerable to the coronavirus because of health conditions, while people who are blind and those who use wheelchairs are finding it impossible to maintain social distance.”

The problems, Mizrahi said, include: nIn many states, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as Food Stamps, prohibits SNAP benefits from being used for

online food and grocery delivery services. nThe leading home-based meal delivery program, “Meals on Wheels,” does not serve people under the age of 60, even if they are homebound. nMany commercial delivery services are backed up, don’t serve many areas, and/or are out of food that people who are diabetic or have other health conditions need. Many people who are blind are unable to get food for their service

dogs.

“Leaders must make an emergency exception to the Food Stamp program so it can be used for online food delivery, at least during the duration of this pandemic,” Mizrahi said, noting that she already has written to leaders to call their attention to the problem.

Mizrahi also calls for private-sector leadership from companies like Amazon, Walmart and Instacart: “Jeff Bezos could easily direct Amazon to prioritize food delivery for people with disabilities, just like his company set up a priority chan-

nel for medical professionals to get supplies.”

Mizrahi singled out the need for the “Meals on Wheels” program to include people with disabilities, regardless of age, who are temporarily unable to circulate in the community due to the pandemic.

“Thankfully, New York is filling the gap with a new program, www.nyc.gov/getfood, and Los Angeles has just implemented a program (by calling 888-863-7411). That shows that where there is a will there is a way, and lives can be saved.”

Lastly, churches, synagogues, mosques and service organizations need to “help fill the void” by undertaking expanded and/or volunteer food delivery service programs on their own.

“At this sacred time of year for Christians, Jews and Muslims, what better demonstration of faith than to bring food and medicine to the hungry and sick?” she asked. l RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

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11

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT

COVID-19 and Workers Compensation: What You Need to Know

T

he National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) offers a perspective on the effect of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the workers compensation industry, including compensability and economic impact.

Overview The COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) is the latest in a series of infectious diseases that have emerged over the last 20 years.

Since 2003, the world has seen the emergence of SARS, H1N1, Ebola, and Zika viruses. While the overall impact of each disease has been well documented, you would be hard pressed to find meaningful information on how or even if the workers compensation (WC) system was affected. However, in the two months since the first US case of coronavirus was confirmed in Washington state, there has already been an impact to the WC environment and there may be more to come. So, what does NCCI see as the potential implications of coronavirus for WC? We will focus on two: compensability and economic impact.

Compensability Is coronavirus compensable under WC? The answer to that question is “maybe.”

While WC laws provide compensation for “occupational diseases” that arise out of and in the course of employment, many state statutes exclude “ordinary diseases of life” (e.g., the common cold or flu). There are occupational groups that arguably would have a higher probability for exposure such as healthcare workers. However, even in those cases, there may be uncertainty as to whether the disease is compensable. Would time away from work during recovery be considered “temporary disability” or is it just normal “sick time”? While these questions linger, at least one state has taken steps to address compensability for WC. On March 5, the state of Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries announced that it changed its policy related to workers compensation coverage for healthcare workers and first responders. Under the clarified policy, Washington state will provide benefits to these workers during the time that they are quarantined after being exposed to coronavirus on the job. The coverage will pay for medical testing, treatment expenses if a worker becomes ill or injured, and provide indemnity payments for those who cannot work if they are sick or quarantined.

It remains to be seen if other states will take the same measures relative to WC. However, for general health insurance, at least 10 states have issued mandates for coverage of coronavirus. The mandates vary by state, but they include coverage for testing and visits to emergency rooms or urgent care facilities either in-network or out-of-network without deductibles or copays. These measures, if expanded to

more states, could have the impact of limiting claim activity in the WC market in those cases where only testing or quarantine are necessary.

Economic Impact With a focus on worker safety, employers have begun to implement a number of policies related to coronavirus. These include limiting nonessential travel, maximizing telecommuting options, and being flexible on sick leave policies to encourage employees to stay home when they are ill. Some companies have also cancelled large in-person industry con-

ferences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its own guidelines related to travel with specific recommendations for the cruise industry.

As a result of these measures, it is reasonable to expect that certain sectors of the economy could begin to see impacts in the near future. The travel and hospitality sectors have been the hardest hit so far. But, over time, other industries could also be impacted depending on how general consumer attitudes and behaviors evolve. This could have a negative impact on employment levels and the

general economy, including the possibility of a recession. This creates some uncertainty about future payroll levels and overall claim frequency for WC, as both have been impacted by previous economic downturns.

Stay tuned to ncci.com for additional coverage of this important and evolving topic.l This article is provided solely as a reference tool to be used for informational purposes only. The information in this article shall not be construed or interpreted as providing legal or any other advice.

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ESTATE PLANNING

12

Types of Property Deeds

Choosing An Estate Attorney

BY SUSAN M. KEENAN

T

he legal documents used to transfer titles to real estate are referred to as property deeds. The names of the legal owners to real estate are placed directly onto the property deeds. Each time a piece of real estate is sold, a new property deed must be issued. The two most commonly used types of property deeds are warranty and quit claim deeds.

Warranty Deeds Commonly used in most real estate transactions, warranty deeds provide guarantees that the property being sold is free and clear of any encumbrances or claims.

The grantor, or seller of the property, warrants that he is the rightful owner of said property and that he holds the title to it.

Therefore, he offers the assurance that he has the right to transfer the title to the property. The guarantee that the property is free and clear is limited to that particular transaction only. Each time a property is sold, a new deed must be issued.

Quit Claim Deeds Used when special circumstances exist, quit claim deeds do not offer any guarantees that the property is free and clear.

However, the grantor of the real estate guarantees that he owns the property and has the right to transfer it with a quit claim. Circumstances when quit claim deeds are used include:

•Property ownership is transferred into a living trust.

•A spouse is removed from inclusion on the deed.

•A property is transferred as part of an inheritance.

Survivorship Deeds A survivorship deed is used to transfer ownership of a property to a surviving spouse. It is used most commonly when property is purchased by couples and one of the spouses dies. This type of property deed allows the surviving spouse to avoid probate.

Life Estate Deeds A life-estate deed is designed to transfer the title to real estate directly to a new owner upon the previous owner’s death.

It is sometimes used when a parent promises a child that he will receive the property when the parent dies. A life-estate deed includes the stipulation that the parent can remain in the home until the time of his death. Life estate deeds are utilized less frequently than other types of property deeds.

If you have questions or want to set up a deed transfer, consult with a well-qualified real estate lawyer. Help is just a phone call away. Call us at 855-7688845. l

O

rganizing your estate can be overwhelming without the help of an expert. With the assistance of an estate planning attorney, you can discuss your vision for your assets before death. Don’t risk creating a plan that doesn’t specify your decisions to the exact details.

When searching for a specialized attorney, it’s important to chat with a few different experts in your area. Make sure you feel comfortable in their office as the discussions of finances and final wishes can be intimate. Once you find several attorneys to interview for the role, here are some questions you should ask before deciding: How Long Have They Been Practicising Estate Planning Law? Many general attorneys will advertise that estate planning is a part of their practice.

They can be a great help when creating legal documents like a will, health care directives and power of attorney.

However, if your financial situation is more complicated, an experienced estate planning lawyer will have better knowledge of the ever-changing laws and know how to protect your legacy.

You should also know how long they have been in practice. Someone who has extensive experience in the industry has likely discovered flaws in previous cases and has learned how to correct them.

Ensuring your final wishes are in good hands, is great peace of mind for both you and your loved ones.

Do They Regularly Update Plans?

To stay on top of your estate, find an attorney who offers an updating and maintenance program. The service may cost more, but they will contact you throughout the year and discuss new techniques, life-changing events which may impact your plans and alterations to laws.

Working with a lawyer who stays in contact with you about your estate plan ensures your documents will be up-to date when it’s needed.

How Do They Charge?

Estate planning is necessary to prepare your family before your death. Ask about the fees the attorney charges. During the interview, find out if he or she charges a fixed rate or hourly. You don’t want to be surprised with unexpected fees.l

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13

ESTATE PLANNING

Health Care Directives In the past people thought that estate planning was just for the wealthy or elderly. Coronavirus has spread rapidly in the U.S. and led to a skyrocketing demand for wills, even for those who aren't senior citizens. Everyone is thinking about their mortality now.

When you become too frail or sick to make your own decisions on end-of-life health care, the emotional strain is passed on to your family or loved ones. Not only can this cause incredible stress, the avenue they take may not be the route you had in mind.

Be open and honest about your final wishes.

D

on’t procrastinate when creating an advance care plan. Age isn’t the only factor that should be considered. A medical crisis that leaves you too ill to make your own decisions could strike at any time.

Emergency Treatment Without a solid health care directive in place, family members may be tasked with making difficult decisions for your treatment. Here are a few common instances you must have clear and legal instructions regarding, as suggested by the National Institute on Aging: • CPR: If your heart begins beating with

an abnormal rhythm, it can be life threatening. Discuss with your family your opinions about resuscitation so they can determine if CPR should be administered.

• Ventilator: When you are unable to breathe on your own, a ventilator can be used to keep you alive. It usually includes a tube which is connected to your trachea to ensure you’re receiving enough oxygen.

• Comfort Care: Deciding how to keep you comfortable while suffering is another factor you should have clear instructions for. Consider instances like limiting medical testing, spiritual and emotional counseling, and pain medication.

Types of Facilities Visit different facilities to make the decision on where you will stay if you become disabled to the point you can’t take care of yourself. It’s important to have a plan for different stages of life.

Here are a few to consider: If you require minimal assistance to live your day-to-day life, an assisted living community is a great option. You have the freedom to reside in your own space yet receive help in areas like laundry services, prepared meals and personal care.

A nursing home is a better option when you need constant assistance from med-

ical professionals. Here, you can receive 24-hour supervision and help with daily necessities like bathing, grooming and medical management.

In-home care is a great option for someone who wants to stay at home while receiving the same benefits as an assisted-living facility. While it can be expensive to call on medical professionals to come to your home, it is a very comfortable option for those needing help.

For a FREE case consultation on health directives and other wills and estate planning issues, please call 855-768-8845. l

Wills, Trusts & Nursing Home Asset Protection Learn how to Protect your Assets and Provide for your Loved ones

Get Answers to Start Your Estate Plan

At this consultation, we will discuss issues that include: Nursing home costs- the myth of the 昀ve year look back The advantages of Wills, Living Trusts & Probate How to maintain your privacy and protect your estate if you become disabled (Hint: Not all Powers of Attorney are valid) Why putting property in children’s names may be a mistake Protect one’s spouse when the other needs nursing home care Preserve your estate for your kids if your surviving spouse gets married How Probate works and more importantly, how to avoid probate How you can qualify and use Medi-Cal to pay for nursing home expenses Provide for special needs (disabled) children and grandchildren How you may be able to minimize federal and state taxes

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nHOROSCOPE

Rihanna Is Trying to Save the World and Leading By Example

O

ur girl Rihanna is leading by example. Rihanna made it clear to her fans that now is not the time to ask about when she will release new music. Like she said a few days ago, "If one of y'all (expletives) ask me about the album one more time when I'm trying to save the world unlike y'all president," Rihanna said. And try she is. Through her Foundation, Clara Lionel Foundation(CLF), named after her grandparents, Clara and Lionel, Rihanna together with Twitter & Square CEO Jack Dorsey and JAY-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation (SCF) released $6.2 million in grants for COVID-19 rapid response efforts in the U.S and abroad.

The grants, distributed across eleven organizations, will support efforts that include providing shelter, food and healthcare services to homeless youth in New Orleans, to building virus testing capacity across the Caribbean and to the set-up of ICUs, hospital beds and isolation units in sub-Saharan Africa, among others.

In the United States and Puerto Rico, funds will specifically go towards: • Give Directly in support of cash transfers to low income families in the mainland US as well as in Puerto Rico.

• Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to support the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) to support domestic violence survivors who need a capital injection to ensure their safety and stability during COVID-19. Micro grants will allow the financing of immediate needs of food, clothing, temporary housing, and more.

• The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to support the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) Community-Based HIV Testing Services to work with mobile clinics to manage the anticipated spread of COVID-19 in the Mulanje and Phalombe districts of Malawi.

• Direct Relief to support purchasing of testing cartridges to build COVID-19 testing capacity Saint Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda. This grant will also support medicine kits needed in hospital ICUs to over five additional locations throughout the Caribbean.

Editorial credit: JStone / Shutterstock.com

• Covenant House New Orleans to support shelter, food, clothing, counseling, and medicine for homeless, at-risk and trafficked youth, many of whom are jobless at the moment. Funds will support six months of shelter, food, medical attention and supplies for homeless youth.

• World Central Kitchen (WCK) to support meals for homeless and senior populations in New Orleans. Funds will support the activation of local restaurants and workers.

Community and Economic Development, to support rental assistance for economically vulnerable Orleans Parish residents impacted by the pandemic. Funds will match the current government funding to grant up to $750 in rental assistance per household.

• The Hispanic Federation to support health clinics in Puerto Rico. Funds will go towards triage shelters, supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for a network of over 20 clinics across Puerto Rico.

Internationally, grants will go towards:

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans & Acadiana, the Feeding America network member that serves the city. Funds will support food sourcing and storage, non-touch distribution and delivery services, and supplemental staff due to a decrease in volunteers.

• Total Community Action, in partnership with the New Orleans Mayor’s Office of

• Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to support COVID-19 response efforts in the hardest to reach and most vulnerable areas of the world. Funds will go towards COVID-19 case management, training, set-up of ICU and hospital beds and isolation units, and development of response guidelines and best practices.

• Team Humanity to support sanitization efforts in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.

In response to these relief efforts, the UBS Optimus Foundation announced that it would generously match one hundred percent of CLF’s $1 million grant to Médecins Sans Frontières with an additional $1 million.

This latest joint effort follows multiple additional rounds of COVID-19 response grants, including a co-funded $4.2 million round by CLF and Jack Dorsey and a $2 million matching grant commitment

by CLF and the Shawn Carter Foundation. Earlier in March, CLF announced $5 million to on-the-ground partners working to protect and prepare vulnerable and marginalized communities in the United States, Caribbean and in Africa.l

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This FREE Citizenship Program does not apply to anyone who has ever been arrested since getting their Green Card.

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17

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Maintaining Connection During Social Distancing

BY JENNINE ESTES

S

ocial distancing really means physical distancing, but staying connected virtually. Without staying connected, we are really isolating ourselves. Isolation increases the risk of a variety of health problems (heart disease, dementia, depression) and leaves us feeling hopeless and alone as we try to make our way through the uncertainty and constant changes.

How does social distancing and staying home affect our relationships?

Social distancing and staying at home can have both a positive and negative impact on the relationship. The stay at home quarantine prevents couples from missing their partners when at work and are stuck together day in and day out.

Underlying issues in relationships come to the surface rapidly when stuck at home in a crisis, causing more and more conflict within relationships. The emotional distress people feel shows up in poor reactions, emotional attacks, and withdrawing. It may feel like you have

no space to clear your head, or no time to yourself – this adds to the stress. More and more couples become combative because they are in fear, grieving, adjusting, and taking it out on one another.

The positive impact of staying at home is that couples have more time to spend together, focused on their relationship and family, and increase the intimacy. It allows the time for one on one time and more meaningful time together. The sexual intimacy will increase because it’s free, fun, and helps with boredom. There is more time to connect and less outside

I’m done!

distractions. This is also a great time to get silly with your partner/family. Make that pillow fort like you did as a kid and watch a movie in it, have a pillow fight, finger paint to Bob Ross together. Just because we’re staying in our homes doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.

So how can we strengthen our relationships at this time?

Self-Care In order to maintain and improve your connection with loved ones, you must make sure you are taken care of first. Just

like they say on the planes, “Put the air mask on you first before you help someone else.” This is our new normal for now, so it is important to have a predictable schedule for self-care. Humans thrive on structure and routine. Create a routine for yourself to help you stabilize emotionally. Add moments of whatever self-care will increase your mood.

Maybe you have an afternoon coffee outside or by a window to give yourself a break from work. Maybe you light your favourite candle or put on a good smelling lotion. Take little moments for yourself throughout the day. Stay connected with others through electronics as a way to help you. And limit the time you have on the news or social media to decrease anxiety!

Work on having good communication Talk about how you are talking. It is more important to work on how you are talking to one another and staying away from negative communication patterns during this time of staying home. You’re continued on page 18

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SPORTS & BOOKS

18

Washington Mystics Acquire 7x AllStar Tina Charles in Three-Team Deal

B

ROOKLYN: The New York Liberty announced that the team has acquired guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the 12th Overall Pick in the 2020 Draft, and 2021 First, Second and Third Round Picks from the Washington Mystics in exchange for center Tina Charles.

In addition, the Liberty acquired guard Tayler Hill along with the No. 9 and 15 picks in the 2020 WNBA Draft from the Dallas Wings in exchange for the Mystics’ 2021 First Round Pick (acquired in Charles deal) and New York’s own 2021 Second Round Pick.

“Tina Charles is a name that will forever be synonymous with New York basketball,” said Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb. “Over the past six seasons, Tina has cemented herself not only in the Liberty record books, but in the hearts of New Yorkers everywhere due to her tireless and selfless work in the community. On behalf of the New York Liberty organization I thank Tina and wish her well in Washington.”

Walker-Kimbrough appeared in 34 games (1 start) for the Washington Mystics in 2019, averaging 6,7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists, while

Tina Charles

shooting 43.2% from the field in 17.1 minutes. The 5’9” guard has appeared in 80 career games across three WNBA seasons with Washington, holding career averages of 5.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game. WalkerKimbrough was selected 6th overall by the Mystics out of the University of Maryland in 2017.

Hill appeared in four games (2 starts) for Dallas before having season-ending knee surgery in 2019. She averaged 3.3 points and 1.3 rebounds, while shooting 40.8% from the field in 12.2 minutes.

The 5’9” guard has appeared in 145 career games across seven WNBA seasons with Washington and Dallas, holding career averages of 8.9 points and 1.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 19.7 minutes per game. Hill was selected 4th overall

by Washington out of The Ohio State University in 2013.

Charles was selected first overall in the 2010 Draft by the Connecticut Sun. The Queens native was traded to New York from Connecticut in 2014.

In her six seasons in seafoam, the seven-time WNBA All-Star appeared in 200 games (all starts) posting an average of 18.7 points and 8.6 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per outing. A 10-year WNBA veteran, Charles owns career averages of 18.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 32.4 minutes in 330 career games (all starts) in New York and Connecticut.

For the first time in franchise history New York has the No. 1 pick in the Draft.

The Liberty now hold picks 1,9,12, 13, 15 and 26—the most in team history. l

Social Distancing/ continued from page 17 spending more time in a confined space with your partner, family members, or roommates… and less time around other people you turn to for support or even just distraction. Avoid reacting with critical comments, defensive stances, or shutting down. Instead, start with a heads up on where you are coming from, use “I statements,” and then ask for what you need.

The more you soften your stance, the better chance you have to stay connected. If you need to take a break, take one.

Reassure your partner that you will be back in 30 minutes to continue the conversation. If you need longer that’s fine, take longer, just communicate this with your partner and do a self-care activity while you step away to help you keep your emotions regulated. This will help prevent your partner from becoming frustrated and it gives you the time you need. Another way to have good communication is to be aware of your negative communication pattern so you can prevent reacting that way in the future.

Since you have more time on your hands, read the book “Hold Me Tight” by Sue Johnson. The book can help you take more control of your communication patterns and improve your connection.

Work on projects (either separate or together) We all have those household projects that never get crossed off the to-do list, but there never seems to be enough time to tackle them. Now you have the time, so work on household projects either sepa-

Reading for Spring

R

emembrance by Rita Woods is a breakout historical debut with modern resonance, perfect for the many fans of The Underground Railroad and Orphan Train.

Remembrance…It’s a rumor, a whisper passed in the fields and veiled behind sheets of laundry. A hidden stop on the underground road to freedom, a safe haven protected by more than secrecy…if you can make it there.

Ohio, present day.

An elderly woman who is more than she seems warns against rising racism as a young woman grapples with her life.

Haiti, 1791, on the brink of revolution.

When the slave Abigail is forced from her children to take her mistress to safety, she discovers New Orleans has its own powers.

rate or together. Then come together to celebrate your accomplishments over lunch or dinner. Show off your hard work. The more accomplished you feel as a team around the home, the more connected you will be.

dler, entertaining your child, or dealing with your complaining teens, there might not be time for you as a couple. Take 30 minutes a day to be alone as a couple and unwind. Keep COVID-19, or other stressors, talk to a minimum.

Give and get space If you are going to go read a book, give your partner a heads up that you are going to read for a while. If you can give a time frame, even better. This prepares your partner to support your own selfcare and helps them give you space of your own. If you are the type of person that needs a lot of interaction (especially the extroverts), reach for connection in a way that doesn’t smother your partner.

You will need to find a balance of connection and giving space. This is a great time to be reaching out to connect with others virtually or on the phone. This is a win-win. You get to interact with a loved one while your partner gets alone time, AND you’re strengthening another relationship.

Bring back the romance You may want to get further away from your partner, but now is the time to rekindle the romance. Some ways to bring back the romance include: have a dinner date with candles and romantic music, take your partner on a picnic in your backyard, or pick some flowers from your yard. Put your phones down and, again, keep the talk of any stressors to a minimum. If you have children, ask them to give you space for your date.

30 minutes connection time If you are running around after your tod-

About Jennine Estes, MFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, CA. Estes is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and writes relationship and self-growth advice for her column, Relationships in the Raw. She is the creator of #BeingLOVEDIs campaign.

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Following tragedy, house girl Margot is sold just before her 18th birthday and her promised freedom. Desperate, she escapes and chases a whisper....

Remembrance.l - Goodreads.com

About the Author Rita Woods is a family doctor and the director of a wellness center. When she's not busy working or writing Dr. Woods spends time with her family or at the Homer Glen library where she served on the board for ten years. Remembrance is her first novel.

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19

HEALTH

Coronavirus Disease and Breastfeeding

I

f you are breastfeeding and have symptoms of or confirmed COVID19, take steps to avoid spreading the virus to your baby: •Wash your hands before touching your baby •Wear a face mask, if possible, while feeding at the breast •Wash your hands before touching pump or bottle parts and clean all parts after each use

Are you looking to get into the health & wellness business?

Contact: Pregnancy and Breastfeeding We do not currently know if pregnant people have a greater chance of getting sick from COVID-19 than the general public nor whether they are more likely to have serious illness as a result. Based on available information, pregnant people seem to have the same risk as adults who are not pregnant.

However, we do know that: •Pregnant people have changes in their bodies that may increase their risk of some infections.

•Pregnant people have had a higher risk of severe illness when infected with viruses from the same family as COVID19 and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza.

Pregnant people should protect themselves from COVID-19 •Avoid people who are sick or who have been exposed to the virus.

•Clean your hands often using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

•Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.

Risks to the pregnancy and to the baby •Pregnant people have had a higher risk of severe illness when infected with viruses from the same family as COVID19 and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza.

•It is always important for pregnant people to protect themselves from illnesses.

How to Keep Your Breast Pump Kit Clean: The Essentials Providing breast milk is one of the best things you can do for your baby’s health and development. Pumping your milk is one way to provide breast milk to your baby.

However, germs can grow quickly in breast milk or breast milk residue that remains on pump parts. Following these steps can keep your breast pump clean and help protect your baby from these germs. If your baby was born prematurely or has other health concerns, your baby’s health care providers may have more recommendations for pumping breast milk safely.

Stacy Young Board Certified Holistic Health Coach Tel: 917-459-8431 Stacy@HealthCoachStacyNYC.com

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Tips for handling breast pump tubing •When used correctly, breast pump tubing does not touch the pumped milk and does not need to be cleaned routinely.

•Keep a spare set of tubing on hand in case the set you are using gets soiled or damaged.

•If your tubing has water droplets in it at the end of a pumping session, disconnect the tubing from the flange/pump kit, but leave it attached to the pump. Run the pump for a few more minutes until the tubing is dry.

•If your tubing has milk or mold in it, throw it away immediately because it is difficult to clean properly. Replace it with a new set of tubing, and check to see if the problem happened because •The valves or membranes need to be replaced.

•The tubing was attached to the pump incorrectly.

•If the outside of your tubing is soiled, wipe it with a damp cloth or disinfectant wipe.

Mother-to-child transmission •Mother-to-child transmission of coronavirus during pregnancy is unlikely, but after birth a newborn is susceptible to person-to-person spread.

•A very small number of babies have tested positive for the virus shortly after birth. However, it is unknown if these babies got the virus before or after birth.

•The virus has not been detected in amniotic fluid, breastmilk, or other maternal samples.

with COVID-19 can spread the virus via breast milk.

Breastfeeding if you have COVID-19 •Breast milk provides protection against many illnesses and is the best source of nutrition for most infants.

•You, along with your family and healthcare providers, should decide whether and how to start or continue breastfeeding •In limited studies, COVID-19 has not been detected in breast milk; however we do not know for sure whether mothers

If you are sick and choose to direct breastfeed: Wear a facemask and wash your hands before each feeding.

If the you are sick and choose to express breast milk: •Express breast milk to establish and maintain milk supply.

•A dedicated breast pump should be provided.

•Wash hands before touching any pump

or bottle parts and before expressing breast milk.

•Follow recommendations for proper pump cleaning after each use, cleaning all parts that come into contact with breast milk.

•If possible, consider having someone who is well feed the expressed breast milk to the infant.l

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EDUCATION

20

Six Principles Should Guide Helping Kids Learn from Home in the Covid-19 Era

BY TOM LIAM LYNCH

T

hanks to Covid-19 we’re all facing weeks, maybe months, of our kids learning from home instead of going to school. So allow me to take off the InsideSchools editorial hat for a second. I’m just Tom, the father of a 10year-old who is as overwhelmed by all the resources and links and free tools as many other parents. Not to mention my son’s frustration with the whole darn situation.

Just this past week, we learned that schools could no longer use the popular video-conferencing platform Zoom.

Teachers were told to switch to Microsoft Teams, but then were later told that Google Meet was also OK. It all feels so dizzying.

Now, carefully putting on an expert hat, I happen to have a lot of experience in online learning. For three years I worked on the implementation of iLearnNYC—the City’s online and blended learning program in over 100 schools. In addition, I played a lead role designing and launching WeTeachNYC, the City’s digital learning space for teachers.

I have also taught many online teacher education courses over the years at the university level. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about what it means to learn and teach with technology.

Let me share some advice for parents and teachers.

Forget the products. Focus on principles.

There are six principles I’ve learned over the years about K-12 online learning (and college, too, honestly) that might help families and teachers manage expectations and know what is worth focusing on. Here they are: 1. Being digitally savvy doesn’t necessarily translate to learning online.

Contrary to popular belief, the ease with which students text or post to Snapchat or fire through Fortnite has little to do with their interest and readiness to learn digitally. This is an important truth to start with, because if adults assume too much of students’ out-of-the-gate digital learning readiness, they will miss opportunities to slow down and explain more thoughtfully what is expected and how to achieve it. Explain to learners every little step required for them to successfully complete assignments--and use screencasting video to do so (see #3).

2. Forget the product; start with the purpose. It’s completely normal to go hunting for the one tool you think you need for teaching online. Companies fuel this instinct by promoting their products as solutions, which we are seeing with Zoom and Cisco’s WebEx recently. But here’s the thing: the product represents a

means to bringing your purpose to life.

Do not adopt any product for learning or teaching without explicitly understanding the instructional purpose it fulfills.

For example, using synchronous communication can give students a chance to discuss topics in real time and ask questions of the instructor on the spot.

What products can do this? Well, video conferencing is one option (i.e., Google Hangout, Microsoft Teams), but so is audio conferencing (i.e. conference calling). Once you are clear on your instructional purpose, you will see that there are often many ways to meet your needs. My advice: pick the simplest option and reduce the total number of new products to the fewest possible.

3. All video is not created equally.

There is a lot of talk of using popular video conferencing services to teach online. I totally understand that doing so appears to make sense, but hear me out.

Video conferencing is in real time, or synchronous. It works well for smaller kinds of meetings, but once you have more than eight to10 people online at once, the odds that something will go wrong increase exponentially. It doesn’t even have to apply to most attendees. If one student’s connection is insufficient, then the teacher feels a real-time responsibility to help them troubleshoot, which in turn distracts from the purpose of the meeting.

An alternative is screencasting. I use Screencastify with Google Apps, for example. I can record myself and/or whatever I’m doing on my screen, save it, and easily share it with students. You get many of the benefits of video without any of the risk. Further, students can watch and re-watch videos shared with them however often they need to. I’ve made videos that literally show students how to sign into online platforms I’m using, where to click, what to watch out for, and so on. I assume nothing and show them everything. (And, I always have a conference phone line on backup in case the video conference platform falls apart.)

4. Embrace paper and pencils. Sounds counterintuitive, but I believe this deeply and it’s how I taught myself to program using virtual course materials. Learners process differently when they create physical notes, when they can visually arrange ideas, and when they can put pencil to paper. If a student is supposed to be learning remotely, I strongly encourage parents and teachers to explicitly help them set up analogue note-taking mechanisms. For teachers, you can require that students not only watch some content videos, but that they take notes on a piece of paper (according to your guidelines), take a picture of it when they are done, and send it to you. It can be that easy. Digital learning benefits tremendously from having a thoughtful offline component.

5. Think in terms of creative products.

Most teachers I have worked with in online learning settings work too hard on the wrong things. It’s true that teaching online means you have to think further in advance and in additional detail than you might typically do in the classroom. At least for some teachers. They plan and plan and plan. But here’s the thing: Learning isn’t about teachers covering content; learning is about students uncovering understanding.

Teachers, and parents, often need to take the onus of teaching off their own shoulders and put the onus of learning on students’. How? By beginning your planning with a simple question: What do I want students to show me as evidence of their learning? For example, when I teach online I often assign a project called a 3x3. Students might read or listen to or watch a bunch of texts related to a guiding question or topic. Then, they prepare three presentation slides in which they summarize what they read, pull out a significant quote from each, and offer their insights and new questions that emerge. But here’s the twist. They use screencasting software to record a presentation video for me no longer than three minutes. I’ve assigned students to create concept maps, collages, essays, and even web-based exhibits. The point is to think less about what you have to

teach and more about what students can create to show you what they have learned.

6. Embrace feedback and communication. Finally, it’s really important that students feel like there is an actual human being out there who cares about the quality of their learning. When I worked for iLearnNYC, I remember talking with a student who refused to complete the online lessons her teacher assigned. When I asked why, she said she submitted a short paper the previous week and her teacher didn’t respond to her. (In fact, her teacher didn’t even know anything had been submitted or that she was supposed to assess it. She believed the “computer” would do all that.)

Adults who are supporting students learning online need to be proactive and multi-channeled in their communications. Send whole-class videos every day or every other day. Refer to the questions and comments other students might have made, so others see that you actually do dialogue. Send informal videos and emails, just to remind students you care.

If the spirit moves you, set up a Google Voice phone number; it comes to your phone via a different number that you can turn on or off, so students can call or text you during specific hours.

Ultimately, what matters most is whether students are authentically engaged in pursuing real questions in their worlds, systematically and intentionally. As adults in their lives, our role is to create experiences for and with them that allow young people to uncover understanding, to incite their insight. That’s the goal, whether you're online or off—that conversation can wait. l Tom Liam Lynch is the editor-in-chief of the InsideSchools project of the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, and the Center’s director of education policy. An earlier version of this column appeared as an InsideSchools blog post.

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21

FAMILY MATTERS

Spring Cleaning After Divorce: Cleaning Out Your Closet and Your Life your emotional closet in six steps: 1.Acknowledge your anger.

2.Realize why you are angry or feeling hateful.

3.Step back for a moment.

4.Deal with the issue.

5.Talk to people about what’s on your mind.

6.Let go of unhealthy thought patterns.

BY CANDACE BAHR & GINITA WALL

S

pring has sprung. If you are coming out of the winter of divorce, consider this season as your chance to clean your home and your soul of the emotional burdens. Back by popular demand is this useful and uplifting article.

The season of spring is all about renewal, which is why it is the perfect time to clean out all that unsightly clutter in your home. If you have recently completed a divorce, then you may also have a lot of disorder in your soul and in your mind.

Spring cleaning doesn’t just have to be a physical chore; it can also be a metaphorical cleansing.

Clean Out Your Home Let’s ease into the spring cleaning process by looking at your home. It is sometimes easier to toss out the physical reminders of your marriage than to sweep away the lingering emotional debris. Physical items often trigger memories and emotions, even on an unconscious level. If those curtains you and your ex bought together are dragging you into the past, they need to go.

If you are on steady terms with your ex,

then consider offering him any of the objects you no longer want in your house. If even the thought of calling him sends your blood pressure spiraling, then you can always sell your unwanted items on Craigslist, Amazon, Facebook, or the new cadre of local selling apps and use the profits to purchase new décor.

Another option is to box everything up and haul it to a local charity like Goodwill or the Salvation Army (some locations will pick up from your home).

Your possessions can have a second life and perhaps create new, better memories for someone else.

Clean Out Your Emotional Closet Your home isn’t the only place where

unwanted junk is piling up. Divorce is almost always emotionally bruising, even in the best of circumstances. You may have survived your divorce, but emotions such as betrayal, anger, fear, and rejection could still be holding you back from embracing your new life. No matter what happened in the past, it is over now, and you have the ability to write a new chapter in your life.

Dr. Cynthia Thaik, a cardiologist and the author of Your Vibrant Heart, wrote, “Feelings of rage and hatred build up in the mind, body and soul, affecting the body’s organs and natural processes and breeding even more negative emotions.”

In an article for the Huffington Post, she wrote out a prescription for cleaning out

Clean Out Your Financial Expectations A divorce can set you free in many ways, but it will change your financial circumstances. First and foremost, divorce itself isn’t cheap. The legal organization, NOLO, surveyed its members and found that the average divorce costs $15,500 per person! This corroborates the saying, “Love is grand – divorce is twenty grand.” Additionally, though women have made great strides when it comes to building a career, the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures a few years ago, show that in 70% of two-income households, husbands earned more than their wives.

So, when you divorce, not only have you lost all the cost savings of combining incomes (i.e. one mortgage to pay), but it is likely that you are working with less continued on page 22

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CONVERSATIONS

22

The SCLC Wants Congress to Have an Open Dialogue with President Trump About the Coronavirus Pandemic The Leader of the World’s Top Economy Must Be More Inclusive, Officials Say

A

TLANTA: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) called on Congress to hold an open dialogue with President Donald Trump concerning his decision making powers surrounding the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, saying he needs to hear from more voices, especially those representing the nation’s underserved.

Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., president and CEO of the SCLC, the organization cofounded and first led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said the president’s arrogance and lack of humility poses great risk for America, but also for the world. Dr. Steele’s appeal stems from a series of actions by the president to cast blame for the impact of Covid-19 in the United States by blaming everyone but himself. He continues to point fingers at China, at the World Health Organization, at governors and others. During Monday’s press event, he continued to cast blame, but said about his administration, “We have done a great job.”

“We need a leader who has the vision to understand that arrogancy does not work in a leadership role, and I don’t care if it is the Sunday School teacher, the president of a nonprofit, or, ultimately, the president of the America,” Dr. Steele said. “Arrogancy will destroy the individual and eventually everything

Trump

around them, including a country and ultimately the world, which is taking place now. Because of arrogancy, the president doesn’t have the ability to bring about a harmonious working relationship or the workmanship with other people.

Congress must have an open conversation with him before he single-handedly acts to re-open the country. This conversation must include the plight of the poor.”

Because of President Trump’s lack of humility, he has alienated almost everyone and cannot be trusted, Dr. Steele said. As a result, no collective global leadership has emerged from the March G-20 teleconference of the world’s most powerful leaders, no leadership has emerged in America, no leadership has emerged from the science and medical communities, nor the business and financial communities. “We are in a state of chaos,” Dr. Steele said.

For America’s poor and African Americans, the signs do not look good.

While Covid-19 has impacted almost every nation, in the U.S. blacks are disproportionately affected, representing nearly 70 percent of the deaths in urban pockets like Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans. The checks from the nearly $2 trillion stimulus package are being mailed to small businesses, but Dr. Steele said the poor, especially blacks, should be weary because the Small Business Administration (SBA)and banks have a history of discriminating against them.

“The SBA has been known as a racist entity of the federal government,” Dr. Steele said. “The money should have never gone through the SBA and the banks. We are experiencing exactly what we went through in 2008. That is when the banks got the money and they locked down on it, and everybody was taken

care of but those who intentionally and particularly should have benefited from it. The money stayed with the banks and Wall Street and never reached the people.

You bail out people. You don’t bail out banks. We need an NGO (NonGovernmental Organization), or a trusted nonprofit that can collaborate with the federal government. The banking institution is no friend of poor folks.”

If Congress cannot dialogue with President Trump, Dr. Steele said America is facing a grim reality unless God intervenes. If Congress cannot dialogue with President Trump, Dr. Steele said America is facing a grim reality unless God intervenes.

“I represent the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and we believe in the power of God,” Dr. Steele said.

“God is always on the throne. People can change. But this change must come with the understanding that you must have humility. He must humble himself before he can change, and I do not see that unless God takes control of his heart and mind. Now that is not impossible, because with God all things are possible.

But until then, we need Congress to look out for the people.”l

For information about the SCLC, visit www.nationalsclc.org Spring Cleaning After Divorce/ continued from page 22

than half the income.

This means that you have to clean out all of your old financial assumptions and start working off of your new financial realities. You may need to curtail your spending or possibly even sell your home if you cannot afford your mortgage on your own. In keeping with the symbolism of spring cleaning, don’t think about these changes as loses. Think of it as clearing out the old clutter so you can look forward. You can’t put a price on the feeling of freedom and happiness that comes from escaping an unfulfilling marriage!

This spring, take the time to feel the sunshine on your face and listen to the birds chirp. Give your home, your soul, and your finances a good scrub and enjoy this beautiful new season in your life! l Reprinted with permission. Candace Bahr & Ginita Wall, CPA, CEA,CDFA are founders of WIFE.org, a nonprofit that aims to teach females how to take financial control of their lives.

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23

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

You’ve Been In a Car Accident—What Should You Do Now? Your doctor won’t just be scribbling medicine on his prescription pad-another beneficial treatment option is exercise—you’re certainly not going to lace up your running shoes and enter the marathon but doing stretching exercises specifically designed by your doctor to treat your condition. The goal is to get you back to your normal activities.

Physical therapy prescribed by a therapist will strengthen your muscles, improve posture and restore normal movement. Interestingly, according to Web MD, in the past whiplash was often treated with immobilization whereby the patient would wear a cervical collar-today movement is the recommended course of action.

Are car crashes with such devastating side effects avoidable? According to the Street Directory, the following traffic regualtions are recommended:

BY MARILYN SILVERMAN

Y

our alarm clock echoes in the early morning hour as you begin your daily routine of flipping on the TV to listen to the traffic report. The last thing you want is to be late for work.

But you might be very late for work if you’re in a car accident. Becoming a statistic should not be on your workday agenda—sitting at your desk checking your emails should be on your workday agenda. But, unfortunately, it could happen and does happen. Just read those newspaper headlines over that cup of coffee.

What precisely happens when you’re a victim of a car crash? You will be experiencing whiplash. According to the Mayo Clinic, this occurs when your head is forcefully and rapidly thrown first backward and then forward. This type of injury can injure bones in the spine, discs between the bones, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and other tissues of the head.

Rear end collisions are a major contributing factor.

According to Utah Pain and Rehab, whiplash affects different people differently. Your age, physical condition, and gender play a role. As you age your

body changes and you start to lose strength and flexibility in your neck. As a result, your neck cannot handle the strain from a car mishap as it could in the past. Women experience whiplash more frequently than men since the latter have stronger neck muscles and women, furthermore, have smaller neck bones.

Most of its sufferers will recover in a

mere few weeks provided of course that they adhere to a treatment plan which incorporates pain medication and exercise. Some people, however, will experience chronic pain on their neck and experience as well, long-lasting complications.

Symptoms The Mayo Clinic delineates its symptoms which can be quite painful indeed: •Neck pain and stiffening •Worsening of pain with neck movement •Loss of range of motion in the neck •Headaches •Tenderness or pain in the shoulder, upper back or arms •Numbness in the arms •Fatigue •Dizziness •Blurred vision •Ringing in the ears •Irritability •Sleep disturbances •Difficulty concentrating •Depression •Memory problems That is quite an unpleasant smorgasbord of symptoms.

You wonder, when should you make an appointment with your family physician?

The answer—ASAP. The symptoms may not be manifested for months, so it’s imperative that you seek professional medical care immediately to see if whiplash has occurred. Your doctor will first move your head, neck, and arms and will ask you to perform a series of relatively simple tasks to determine your range of motion. He’ll recommend a set of treatment options to alleviate the pain.

Rest may be beneficial during the first 24 hours but don’t hibernate for the winter; too much rest can delay your recovery.

Over-the-counter medication with such familiar names as Tylenol, Advil and Motrin are the drugs of choice that can control mild to moderate pain.

Prescription medicine is recommended for more severe pain. Muscle relaxants may be prescribed for short-term use.

•Buckle up with that seat belt –it’s there to protect you—it’s not just decoration for your car •Don’t drink and drive—put a cork in that bottle hours before driving or have a designated driver do you a favor •Don’t speed down an isolated highway •Avoid distractions—like that cell phone that’s in everyone’s hands these days— that conversation can wait •Your body is suffering. Your quality of life is suffering. Your bank account is suffering due to the enormous cost that’s necessary to get you back on your feet.

So the inevitable question is—can you sue? By hiring a personal injury attorney that can become a reality.

According to Quora, you shouldn’t delay hiring a personal injury attorney since the medical costs can be thousands of dollars. The decision to sue after a car accident is a legal means of getting compensation for the damage that another person caused. That attorney will need: •Accident reports •Witness names and contact information •Property damage estimates •Medical costs Compensation This compensation can be a reality if you contact an experienced attorney such as the Law Firm of Figeroux & Associates, a team of knowledgeable, compassionate legal experts who have successfully won huge damages for their roster of clients over many years who will help you be the beneficiaries of substantial monetary damages for your devastating injuries.

Get a free consultation by calling 855768-8845. You can also visit www.311pesonalinjury.com It’s bad enough that you’re compelled to suffer such traumatic injury; you should be confident that financially you will not be suffering.

Nothing Less!”l

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The lawyer you hire, does make a difference!

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