Avoid the crowds: visit Athens in winter
As a seaside metropolis with a lively outdoor vibe and dozens of picturesque islands beckoning nearby, Athens is more often considered a summer tourist destination than a winter escape.But if you’ve got more than beaches on your mind, there’s plenty of upside to a brief cool visit that avoids the crowds and heat of summer.Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities, often ... READ MORE
Children may have to pay for parents’ care
When an older adult racks up unpaid long-term-care bills, who’s responsible for paying the debt?In a growing number of cases, adult children are being held legally responsible for their parents’ nursing-home or other care expenses. The reason: More than half of U.S. states have “filial responsibility” laws obligating adult children to financially support their... READ MORE
Drug prices can put sex beyond reach
Imagine not being able to afford one of life’s great pleasures — sex.That’s true for many older couples, doctors say. Soaring prices for prescription medicines for impotence and other problems have put the remedies out of reach for some.Without insurance coverage, Viagra and Cialis cost about $50 a pill, triple their 2010 list prices. The new “female Viagra,” a ... READ MORE
Get serious to protect against identity theft
Having someone else pretend to be you is now something that has probably happened to you or to someone you know. And it’s not as fun as it sounds.According to Bankrate, a financial website, 41 million U.S. adults have now had their identities stolen, and another 49 million know someone who has.Having your credit card used without your permission is the commonest, and in some ways the... READ MORE
Taking a chance on romance
Hillary Finkel discovered “it was a whole new world out there” when she decided to try online dating four years after her husband passed away — swiping right or left, catphishing, photo editing apps that make people look 10 years younger. Finkel considers herself lucky that she didn’t encounter anyone who had created a fictional persona, the definition of catphishing, and... READ MORE
Exhibit looks at Howard’s Jewish settlers
For the Howard County history books: Even before early Israeli settlers established collective agricultural communities (kibbutzim) there in 1909, Russian Jews attempted something similar in the early 1900s along the Patapsco River outside of Ellicott City.The evidence is in the exhibit being put together at the Howard County Historical Society museum by Dustin Linz, the museum manager,... READ MORE
A bucket list trip to exotic Bora Bora
Somehow, I convinced my husband that the fifth wedding anniversary is the Tahitian anniversary. (The traditional gift, actually, is wood.)For years, I had dreamed of going to Bora Bora in French Polynesia. The lagoon’s glimmering turquoise, jade and cobalt blue waters, the overwater bungalows, the seclusion — for me, it was the ultimate bucket list destination.Some of the... READ MORE
Expanding tax credits for aging in place
Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman has proposed a bill that would expand a tax credit to help residents who are adapting their homes to “age in place.” The expansion of the preexisting Livable Homes Tax Credit is in response to recommendations from the county’s Commission on Aging.Unlike deductions or exemptions, which reduce the amount of income subject to tax,... READ MORE
Eat more nuts for a healthy weight
For years, nuts — dense in calories and fat — were considered off limits for people looking to shed a few pounds. However, in the last two decades research has uncovered numerous health benefits of tree nuts — such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts and cashews — for heart health and brain protection. Now those benefits even extend to achieving a healthy... READ MORE
Opposing views on immigration
Should Howard County become a “sanctuary” for immigrants, where county employees, including police and other law enforcers, would be barred from volunteering to work with federal officials on immigration matters or inquiring about the immigration status of those they encounter in their official duties? That’s the hot topic question that county officials and residents alike are... READ MORE
