03/14/2024 ISSUE 11

A 54-year-old Vero hospital orderly is out on $15,000 bond, after police seized two Glock handguns, more than a dozen loaded magazines plus boxes of ammunition he had brought in a military-style knapsack to his job in the Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital Emergency Department. Christopher Robert Webb, who lives with his parents in the Grovenor Estates subdivision in southwest Vero, might never have drawn the attention of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office had he not adopted the habit of walking the streets of the upscale neighborhood totally in the buff. On Feb. 16, neighbors called police to report a naked jaunt, but no one had photographic evidence, and Webb denied the “Wow!” That was my immediate reaction when I went to the City of Vero Beach’s website last week and began perusing what proved to be – at first glance, anyway – the most compelling of the four proposals for the development of the Three Corners site. The detailed, well-presented and wonderfully illustrated proposal submitted by a partnership headed by Clearpath Services of Bloomington, Indiana, is more than impressive. It’s spectacular, which, I suppose, is what you’d expect from a $500 million proposal. It also contains everything we could have hoped for, going all the way back to November 2019, when the City Council formed a steering committee to discuss the creation of a dining, retail, social and recreational hub on the mainland’s waterfront. As I scrolled through the 218 pages, the digitally generated renderings of what Clearpath has planned for the Three Corners seemed to jump off the computer screen, far exceeding my expectations for the 17-acre, lagoon-front property on which the city’s defunct electric plant now sits. The more I saw, in fact, the more exWith four proposals on the table for Vero’s Three Corners riverfront redevelopment project, stakeholders are going to be divided about which plan is best. But one thing is sure – if you created the ideal Three Corners developer from scratch, it would be difficult to come up with one more well suited to tackle the project and successfully see it through than barrier island resident Donald Urgo. From a deep-seated love of Vero Beach that began before he started elementary school, to a 50-plus-year career developing and operating major hotel and mixed-use projects around the world to the stellar development team and rock-solid financial backing he has assembled, Urgo pretty much has it all. His $172-million Vista Blue Vero Beach INSIDE To advertise call: 772-559-4187 For circulation or where to pick up your issue call: 772-226-7925 NEWS HEALTH PETS REAL ESTATE 1-7 8 B10 14 ARTS GAMES CALENDAR B1 B7 B11 © 2024 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved. By Lisa Zahner and Nick Samuel | Staff Writers March 14, 2024 | Volume 11, Issue 11 | Newsstand Price: $1.00 | For breaking news visit VeroNews.com YOUR LOCAL NEWS SOURCE FOR INDIAN RIVER COUNTY PAINTING IS PERSONAL AND PEACEFUL FOR VERO ARTIST GLOVER Arts & Theatre, Page B2 SENSORIUM ROOM HELPS AUTISTIC CHILDREN ADAPT Your Health, Page 8 A SPECTACULAR PROPOSAL THREE CORNERS: THE BATTLE IS ON CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 Hospital orderly’s bizarre behavior leads to arrest on gun charges By Ray McNulty | Staff Writer [email protected] MY TAKE PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS By Steven M. Thomas | Staff Writer [email protected] AN IDEAL DEVELOPER RENDERING FROM CLEARPATH PROPOSAL RENDERING FROM VISTA BLUE VERO BEACH RESORT AND SPA

2 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | LOCAL NEWS www.veronews.com CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 MY TAKE cited I became about the possibility of Vero Beach being home to a dazzling, lagoon-front, something-for-everyone destination unlike any other on the Treasure Coast. That doesn’t mean we should ignore the other three proposals, submitted by the SuDa, CREC Capital, Madison Marquette partnership of Pompano Beach; Vista Blue Vero Beach Resort & Spa; and the Edgewater Group of Fort Lauderdale. All three meet the city’s criteria, and at least two of them are worthy of consideration, though one group needs to answer a few questions. The third proposal raises some concerns. Not only does Edgewater’s $154.3 million proposal come across as too marina-centric – its 262 boat slips are more than double the number provided by the other developers’ plans – but it also includes an automated dry-stack boat-storage facility. In addition, its master plan map designates space for a “future condo development site,” without stating whether the units would be affiliated with the on-property hotel. For those wondering: The city’s Three Corners Concept Plan doesn’t allow for residential use, unless it is connected with an on-site hotel. As for the other proposals … The SuDa group, which city officials said was the last of the respondents to engage, brings a strong reputation and a highly specialized team with longstanding relationships in the industry. Its $144.3 million proposal includes an “urban chic” hotel with 175 to 225 rooms, state-of-the-art marina, waterfront restaurants, market-row retail, meeting hall, central park and “food bazaar” in partnership with the highly success Oxbow Public Market in Napa, California. SuDa is also proposing the creation of a hotel-affiliated “Beach Club” for guests and members on a city-owned, four-acre parcel adjacent to South Beach Park. Although the group states in its proposal that it would be making a “substantial investment in upgrading the existing facilities that will enhance the beach experience for every resident of Vero Beach,” some city officials wondered if aspects of the club would be off-limits to non-members. The proposal states that “private events” could be held there. The most obvious concern with SuDa’s proposal was its lack of specificity, despite two of the group’s principals, Bill Becker and Edgar Jones, having Vero Beach connections. “Our intention is to use best efforts to integrate the Big Blue into our plans as it is a historic landmark for Vero Beach,” the proposal states. “We will finalize a plan upon being awarded the project.” However, one prominent local official said SuDa’s proposal almost certainly will be further developed when the group makes its face-to-face presentation to the city’s Selection Committee in May. “They didn’t have as much time to invest in preparing their proposal as some of the other groups,” the official said, “which have been interested in this property for a year or more.” One of those groups is the Vista Blue Vero Beach partnership headed by longtime Indian River Shores resident Don Urgo, president and CEO of Maryland-based Urgo Hotels & Resorts. The group’s $172 million proposal – as do the others submitted on the Feb. 1 deadline – would provide the amenities the city is seeking (see accompanying story). On Monday, in fact, Urgo informed Vero News that he had received a commitment from Marriott International to build a 225-room, four-star resort-style hotel at the Three Corners. But Vista Blue’s proposal raises a potentially troubling concern: What if the cost of repurposing Big Blue isn’t financially practical, and the development group – to get the desired rate of return on its investment – needs to build a hotel that exceeds the city’s 50-foot height limit? The group offers a solution. “… If for some reason it is not feasible to keep the Great Hall,” the proposal states, “we suggest not being held to the 50-foot height restriction.” Urgo and his team may suggest it, but that’s not going happen. It can’t happen without a referendum, which would delay a project scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2028. And the voters are not likely to approve it. Everyone – including the members of Vero Beach’s City Council – knows it. So suggesting the city might need to waive its height limit probably isn’t going to help Vista Blue’s chances. But unless we discover some yet-to-befound flaw in Clearpath’s plan or partnership – which includes Indiana neighbors The Ridge Group of Muncie and DMJR Development of Indianapolis, as well as the HOK architectural firm, Westminster Capital, Ennismore hospitality, Bellingham Marine and Turner Construction – this one is no contest. If you’ll allow me a brief return to my sports-writing days: Clearpath’s proposal is Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, where he won horse racing’s first Triple Crown in 25 years with a mind-boggling 31-length victory. Unless Clearpath’s jockey – company founder Randy Lloyd has vacationed in Vero Beach for years – somehow falls off the horse during negotiations with the city, this race is over. It was fitting, really, that Lloyd and the other principals in Clearpath’s group included in their proposal a quote from British business magnate Richard Branson: “It’s only by being bold that you get anywhere.” They didn’t hold anything back, apparently confident they can come up with the capital necessary to finance a project of such magnitude. The Clearpath group has been meeting with community leaders and talking with a range of local residents for more than two years to prepare a plan that would accommodate the city’s vision for the Three Corners property. “Our team members have attended numerous community meetings, engaged numerous community members, spoke with several community organizations and businesses, toured the facilities and, generally, have actively dedicated ourselves to be listeners and learners from all who have shared their thoughts and hopes for the site,” the proposal states. “From our active engagement, we have created an informed and exciting redevelopment vision for Three Corners,” it added. “We think you will agree.” I do. Clearpath’s innovative proposal, which would preserve and repurpose the former “Big Blue” power plant, includes plans for: A 145-room 21c Museum Hotel with a cottages and a conference center; 500-seat waterfront event center; Great food hall, restaurants, retail

Resort and Spa would repurpose the great hall of Vero’s shuttered power plant as a three-level, multipurpose entertainment, exhibition and hospitality venue designed by a powerplant reuse specialty firm and featuring extensive rooftop sports activities. It would include a 225-room, 4-star resort hotel loaded with amenities attached to the great hall, three free-standing restaurants, numerous shops and a robust marina with slips for permanent moorings, day-use visitors and mega-yachts up to 150 feet, which Urgo said will bring visual excitement and a sense of scale to the project. There will also be lots of open space. “We were very careful about how we designed the waterfront,” Urgo said. “It would be easy to over-develop. We could have packed the waterfront with five or six hotels and lots of other buildings but that would not have fit the site or the laidback feel of Vero Beach. We see that section more as a waterfront park and promenade than as a retail row. “This is not Naples or Delray Beach, and the scale of what we build should reflect that.” Urgo has been intently focused on the project since it was first proposed more than four years ago, making repeated visits to the site with engineers, architects and Urgo Hotel and Resorts staffers before the city put out its earliest feelers for developer interest. On Monday, he told Vero News exclusively that since submitting his proposal to the city he and his team have locked in a commitment for the hotel to operate under the Marriott flag – a brand he has a long history with, dating back to 1970, when he was a young attorney tapped by Bill Marriott to lead the hotel company’s expansion into Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. “There is a good chance it will be a Marriott Autograph hotel, [a collection of premium hotels] that lets you have your own independent brand while still being fully associated with Marriott,” Urgo said. “But that has not been decided yet, for sure.” Urgo and his partners certainly see their Three Corners plan as a way to make a big, positive contribution to Vero Beach but also as an attractive money-making opportunity. They plan to put up 50 percent of the development capital themselves and own and operate the hotel and restaurants long-term. “We’ve done extensive financial projections and market research, and we think the restaurants can do very well,” said Urgo, who first became aware of Vero Beach in the early 1940s as a distant, mythical place where his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers swung their bats during spring training. Donald Urgo Sr. grew up in a mixed family in Flatbush, during and after World War II – one uncle was a Giants fan while another was a Yankees fan, but he joined forces with his dad and brother who adored the Dodgers. “I’ve been a Dodgers fan since I was 3 years old,” Urgo said, “and I’m still a Dodgers fan today!” His family never had a chance to visit Dodgertown when he was a kid but after he graduated from law school, he worked with a partner at a Wall Street law firm who had a home in Old Riomar. “He was near retirement, and I came down to his house on a number of occasions to deal with legal matters, and I Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | LOCAL NEWS March 14, 2024 3 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 AN IDEAL DEVELOPER NEWS OTHERS MISS, OR CHOOSE TO IGNORE | PUBLISHED WEEKLY MILTON R. BENJAMIN President and Publisher | [email protected] | 772.559.4187 LOCATED AT 4855 NORTH A1A, VERO BEACH, FL 32963 | 772.226.7925 STEVEN M. THOMAS Managing Editor | [email protected] | 772.453.1196 DAN ALEXANDER Creative Director | [email protected] | 772.539.2700 Associate Editor: Paul Keaney, Asst. Managing Editor: Lisa Zahner, Society Editor: Mary Schenkel, Reporters: Stephanie LaBaff, Ray McNulty, Samantha Rohlfing Baita, George Andreassi, Columnists: Kerry Firth, Ellen Fischer, Tina Rondeau, The Bonz, Photographer: Joshua Kodis, Graphic Designers: Robert Simonson, Jennifer Greenaway, Larissa Bemesderfer JUDY DAVIS Director of Advertising [email protected] | 772.633.1115 KATHLEEN MACGLENNON | [email protected] | 772.633.0753 MARIO CORBICIERO | [email protected] | 772.559.5999 ADVERTISING SALES shops and galleries; Waterfront Village with a marina, sloping-lawn amphitheater, kayak and paddleboard canal, and fishing pier. Pedestrian walkways that connect a central park to a series of smaller parks. Clearpath’s proposal also showed an awareness and understanding of our community by connecting the Three Corners development to the city’s downtown, beachside business district, parks and other shopping areas via GoLine bus service, sidewalks, bike baths and watercraft. Then there’s the credibility Clearpath brings to the table – not only with its own accomplishments, but through the caliber of its partners. HOK, for example, ranks among the world’s most respected design, architecture, engineering and planning firms, operating 26 offices on three continents. Its list of projects includes the design of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, upgrade of Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and the redesign of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. “You look at their proposal, you look at what they’ve done in the past, and you look at their partnerships,” one city official said last weekend, “and you don’t see any negatives.” What you see is what we’re were all hoping for when we first started talking about developing the Three Corners site into something special, something this community needs, something you look at and think, “Wow!” CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Donald Urgo.

4 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | LOCAL NEWS www.veronews.com made sure that I came during spring training, so I could see the Dodgers play.” It was at the same Wall Street firm that Urgo was first assigned legal work for a hotel client in the mid-1960s. “Nobody at the firm had experience handling legal matters for hotels, and I didn’t either, but they told me to learn,” Urgo said. His success with that first hotel client led to work for Marriott when the company purchased the landmark Essex House overlooking Central Park in Manhattan, converting the upper floors of the 44-story, Art Deco building to condos and operating the rest as a hotel that continues today as JW Marriott Essex House New York. Before long, in 1970, he was given the assignment by Bill Marriott to go abroad, locate likely markets, find local investment partners, and get hotels built and opened from Paris to Cairo to Athens to the Far East. “I did that for 10 or 12 years,” Urgo said, “but my wife and I wanted to have a large family and the job required too much travel, so I went out on my own.” Urgo developed his first hotel on his own dime almost by accident. “My wife’s family had moved from Flatbush to Uniondale on Long island,” Urgo said. “There were no hotels in town, and I thought there should be, so I developed one with some partners that became a Marriott hotel. That hotel, which is adjacent to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, was completed in 1980 and operates today as the Long Island Marriott. With that success under his belt, Urgo continued to look for and capitalize on other hotel development opportunities in the United States, and Canada while still doing legal work for clients. “We got more serious about development as time went by,” Urgo said. “Around 2000, it stopped being my avocation and became my vocation. I stopped taking on client work and concentrated on hotel deals. We thought we might do one a year, but it turned out to be considerably more than that,” including luxurious mountain lodges, ski resort hotels and seaside resorts. Urgo Hotels and Resorts was operating 50 hotels when it merged with HHM, a larger hotel management and investment company in 2022. “Our company continues to operate autonomously as Urgo Hotels and Resorts after the merger, with my son, Donald Urgo Jr., in charge. Most of our properties are ones we developed ourselves, but we also operate hotels for financial partners and investment groups.” Urgo Hotels currently has properties in nine states and three Canadian provinces with more than 7,000 rooms, including at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, which Urgo points to as a major hotel and mixed-use development with many of the elements of the Three Corners project. “Intrawest bought the property, which was very large but didn’t have many facilities, and we formed a partnership with them to develop it. There is probably 100,000 square feet of retail and 2,000 keys now, with hotel rooms, condos and apartments. We have two hotels there with retail, a Marriott and a Hilton.” Two Urgo-related Florida projects relevant to Three Corners are Love Street in Jupiter and the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Resort & Spa, which Urgo bought out of bankruptcy with the Manocherian family, legendary New York real estate investors who have backed many of his projects and are partners in Vista Blue Vero Beach Resort and Spa. “The previous owners lost a lot of money there in the three or four years after they built it,” Urgo said. “We turned it around quickly and made close to $2 million the first year.” Love Street, across the Loxahatchee River from the Jupiter Lighthouse, is a wildly popular waterfront destination with docks, an outdoor activity center and three restaurants. It was developed by Collins Development and New York’s famed Lessing’s Hospitality Group, both partners in Vista Blue. “Lessing’s is a fantastic company that has been around since the 1890s and has about 120 facilities [ranging from the finest of fine dining venues to university cafeterias], which all do very well,” Urgo said. “They are very good at what they do.” Jeffrey Collins, head of Collins development, has an impressive portfolio of waterfront commercial and luxury residential projects completed and underway in and around Jupiter. “I went down and met with Michael Lessing after Love Street opened and he introduced me to Jeffrey Collins,” Urgo said. “I brought them up to Vero and they both got very excited about the possibilities of the Three Corners project.” Another key partner in Vista Blue is John’s Island resident Steve Bell, founder of Bell Partners, a multi-billion-dollar real estate investment firm, who is an enthusiastic backer of Urgo’s plan. “He is investing as an individual, not through his company,” Urgo said, noting that he and his partners are confident of getting a bank loan for the balance of the project costs because of their substantial personal investment and the track records and reputations of those involved. If the group gets the contract to develop the city property, the partners hope to complete the project by 2028 and expect their hotel and restaurants to generate about $42 million in revenue the first year, not counting income from the marina and retail outlets. By year five, they expect revenue to increase substantially to about $64 million, with a $21 million profit before taxes and CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 AN IDEAL DEVELOPER CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | LOCAL NEWS www.veronews.com BAREFOOT KEPT IN LIMBO ON HIS SCHOOL BOARD STATUS As the week began, Brian Barefoot’s status as a School Board member was still in limbo. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Barefoot said, referring to the Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failure to acknowledge his resignation from the board last month or his nextday letter rescinding that action. Barefoot said he planned to send DeSantis a second email early this week and follow up with a certified letter, requesting a receipt to verify the delivery was made. He said both correspondences would inform DeSantis that, barring a response from the Governor’s Office this week, he would reclaim his seat on the dais next Monday, when the board is scheduled to conduct its next workshop and business meeting. “I’ll try again to reach him, but I don’t know why it’s taking so long for him to respond,” Barefoot said. “I made an honest mistake while trying to do the right thing and, once I realized it was a mistake, I immediately tried to correct it. “This ought to be a no-brainer.” Barefoot, the 80-year-old former Indian River Shores mayor, submitted his resignation from the School Board on Feb. 28, believing he was required to do so because he had sold his John’s Island home and moved to Oak Harbor on the mainland. The move, he thought, took him out of District 5, which he was elected to represent in 2020. He was wrong: The County Commission, as it does every 10 years after receiving the results of the U.S. Census, re-drew the district lines during its redistricting process in 2021. As a result, the Oak Harbor community on Indian River Boulevard moved from District 2 to District 5, meaning that Barefoot didn’t need to resign. On Feb. 29 – less than 24 hours after sending his resignation letter to DeSantis via U.S. Mail – Barefoot learned his new residence was still in District 5 and immediately took steps to restore his place on the board. In addition to sending faxes and emails to the offices of the governor and secretary of state, he followed up with overnight letters that were to arrive in Tallahassee by 10:30 a.m. on March 1. Barefoot, who has eight months left on his four-year term, said he’s sure his letter rescinding his resignation arrived in the Governor’s Office before his resignation letter. By Ray McNulty | Staff Writer [email protected] CARPET ONE CREATIVE FLOORS & HOME Creative Floors & Home has more for your entire home from the floor up! With Flooring, Tile, Cabinets and even vacuum cleaners! 772.569.0240 1137 Old Dixie Hwy • Vero Beach creativefloorscarpet1verobeach.com Professional Cabinet Design Available depreciation. Donald Urgo and his wife Carolyn have homes in John’s Island and Marbrisa. They achieved their goal of a large family, with 10 children and 30 grandchildren, so far, including three sons who followed their father into the hotel business. One of them, Collin Urgo, who has had a long, successful career in hotel development and management, lives down the street from his parents in Marbrisa. He will be working full-time alongside his father on Vista Blue if they get the deal. “My son Don Jr. signed a contract to stay on after we merged,” Donald Urgo said, referencing the deal that freed him up to concentrate on Three Corners. “But Collin only signed a short-term contract and is free now to focus on this project, which he loves as much as I do.” The four Three Corners proposals are being reviewed now by a special city committee, which will rank the proposals initially on April 26, interview the developers and make a final recommendation to the city council in May. The City Council is scheduled to pick a developer at a 9:30 am meeting on May 28. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 AN IDEAL DEVELOPER

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | LOCAL NEWS March 14, 2024 7 act. After a two-week investigation, deputies had the evidence they needed to serve an arrest warrant for indecent exposure on Webb at Cleveland Clinic, where he’d worked for the past nine and a half years. Webb was handcuffed and placed in the squad car without incident, but he was carrying a pocket knife which he failed to disclose, and a search of his knapsack revealed the weapons. Webb’s misdemeanor sex charge then turned into a felony offense for bringing the guns into the hospital. “The bag was at his workstation. He was arrested away from his work station, so he was away from those guns,” Sheriff Eric Flowers said. “The security team brought his bag out to us.” The police report says Webb claimed he brought the guns to work in case of trouble because the hospital receives psychiatric patients through the Emergency Department. Flowers speculated that Webb knew he would be arrested at work for his naked jaunts, and perhaps intended to commit “suicide by cop.” However troubling the details of this case might seem, Flowers said his agency had no reason to involuntarily commit Webb for 72 hours as prescribed by Florida law because he was not threatening to harm himself or anyone else. Flowers said Webb acted in a calm manner, and though he initially lied about having firearms in his bag, he was cooperative once arrested. He did not act crazy enough to be kept in the psych ward for observation for three days. So after his first appearance in court, Webb posted bond on Friday and went home to his presumably shocked and worried neighborhood. Flowers said Webb has since been terminated from his job at Cleveland Clinic, where he had direct contact with patients as a “transporter,” moving patients to different rooms. Detectives found out via interviews that Webb also had sent lewd texts and images to some Cleveland Clinic staffers during his tenure at the hospital. Cleveland Clinic spokesperson Raquel Gonzalez Rivas issued the following statement on Monday. “We can confirm that a caregiver was arrested at the hospital Thursday. The hospital remained secure and there was no danger to caregivers or patients. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement’s investigation.” Flowers, speaking at a press conference, asked anyone from the public who’d had a strange interaction with Webb to please come forward. Flowers said deputies applied for a risk protection order for Webb. This means Webb can no longer have access to firearms. “We’re in a safer position that (Webb) no longer has access to these weapons. It’s in the system. If he went to try and purchase a firearm, he would be denied – but that’s through legal means,” Flowers said. “If he goes down the street and tries to buy one from a private seller, they would have no idea that he’s not allowed to possess those, other than us getting the word out through (the media).” Flowers asked private gun owners not to sell Webb a firearm while he’s awaiting trial. He said the Florida Supreme Court has previously ruled that resignations could be rescinded, “so there’s precedent.” In fact, Barefoot said he’s prepared to “take whatever measures are necessary” to get reinstated if DeSantis doesn’t allow him to rescind his resignation. “I was overwhelmingly elected by the community to represent my district,” Barefoot said. “There’s no reason to let this drag on. It’s not fair to the other board members, or the district. I need to get back to work.” Barefoot said his biggest concern about returning to duty without the governor’s approval is the possibility that board votes in which he participates could later be voided. He did not attend last month’s meeting. Last winter, DeSantis publicly released an enemies list – created with significant input from the hard-right Moms For Liberty – that contained the names of 14 school board incumbents around the state that he wants to see defeated in this year’s elections. Despite being a longtime Republican who twice donated to DeSantis’ campaigns, Barefoot was among those targeted, allegedly because he didn’t embrace the governor’s anti-woke education agenda. “I’m sure there are forces working against me,” Barefoot said, alluding to the Moms group, which has staunchly opposed his presence on the board. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ORDERLY ARRESTED Weapons and ammunition seized by Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputies during the arrest of hospital orderly Christopher Robert Webb.

8 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH www.veronews.com Most of us don’t give a second thought to navigating the sights, sounds and smells of daily life, but for a child on the autism spectrum it can be difficult. Everyday things like the sound of wind, car travel or exposure to bright sunlight can trigger negative emotions. Some autistic children and teenagers are overly sensitive to environmental stimuli and might try to avoid these experiences. Others are under-sensitive and might seek out greater stimulation. Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic has a unique tool called sensorium to help children learn to comfortably engage with their environment, especially those on the autism spectrum, or with ADD, ADHA and other communication disorders. The sensorium is a multi-sensory integration room with equipment and therapies to benefit sensory processing needs. It provides an array of stimulating and calming features to help patients regulate their senses through vibroacoustics, visual cues and other stimuli. “As far as we know this is the only sensorium of its kind in the state,” said Katrena McMahan, chief operations officer at Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic. “We use it to improve motor skills, manage behavioral problems and alleviate hyper- or hyposensitivity to the environment. It often helps relieve stressors so patients can get the most benefit from their therapy session.” Hyper- or over-sensitive children take in too much information from the environment around them and are unable to process it. They often try to avoid sensory experiences, and if they encounter one they don’t like, they might cry, run, withdraw or shut down. They might put their Sunshine Physical Therapy’s ‘sensorium’ helps autistic kids adapt By Kerry Firth | Correspondent Mindy Mayer with Mark. PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH March 14, 2024 9 hands over their ears and eyes or appear jumpy, stressed and irritable. Children who take in too little sensory information also have difficulty functioning in their environment. These hyposensitive (under-sensitive) children seek out things to see and touch. They might hold items up to their eyes or touch and rub against things. Because they aren’t sensitive to sound, they might increase the volume of music or speak loudly. They may not notice strong odors or temperature changes. The sensorium is used for both groups. It’s like a giant playroom with all kinds of activities and devices that can be used to either stimulate or calm a child. Dynamic color changing bubble columns and fiber optic light strands can be dialed up for stimulation and dialed down for relaxation. Upbeat music can be played to encourage movement while ambient noises can soothe a child in distress. Kids can jump on a trampoline, bury themselves in color-changing balls, or chill in a vibroacoustic rocker or waterbed while experimenting with touching different textures. “Certain smells often trigger strong emotions in autistic children,” said Mindy Mayer, an occupational therapy assistant with Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic. “We have an aromatherapy station to engage the olfactory senses for increasing and decreasing arousal. Some scents like lavender and geranium are soothing, while others like cinnamon and spearmint are more alerting. We introduce the scents to our patients and increase their exposure little by little until they can tolerate the scent without distress.” For children who have a problem with touch, therapists encourage tactile stimulation by introducing different textures to their hands and feet. One method utilized in the sensorium is a set of textured steps with different surfaces. One may be slippery, another sandy and another carpeted. By gauging the reaction to each step, the therapist can isolate which surface evokes negative a reaction and work on overcoming the aversion. Sensory boards prompt touch with curved surfaces, soft fabrics, smooth metals and sandpaper. “A lot of patients we see struggle with emotional and physical regulation, which just means they are not able to control their body or use their thoughts in their physical environment,” Mayer continued. “We use the sensorium to help them regulate, because if your body is not regulated, you can’t learn a new skill and you can’t advance and grow. “We have a lot of things to help them get to a regulated state. If your body is calm, you can learn those new tasks and you can add on from there. We are trying to assimilate them into society so they can tolerate all the triggers in the environment around them. We can’t change the environment, but we can teach them coping skills.” Parents are usually the first ones to notice sensory disorders. When they report their concerns to their pediatrician, the doctor may refer them to occupational therapy. “When they come to see us, we do a formal assessment to see how they are doing compared to typically developing children,” McMahan explained. “The parent tells us what their concerns are with things at home and school and how they are getting through everyday life. Then we put that all into a plan of care and create goals with the patient. If the child is old enough, we want their input as well, as it’s very important for them to be motivated to reach their goals.” Typically, a patient will come to the sensorium for an hour, one-on-one therapy session one or two days a week. Parents are educated on things they can practice at home, which can play a big part in their children’s tolerance to external triggers. Treatments can last from six months to six years depending on the child’s developmental progress. “Take for example a child who has issues calming before going to sleep,” McMahan said. “We help the parents set up a bedtime routine so they can be on schedule. We teach them how to do joint compressions and to restrict screen time for an hour before bed. If it’s appropriate we’ll suggest things like the projector or aroma therapy. We also share tips and solutions with their teachers at school if needed. “It helps that we offer speech, occupational and physical therapy for children who need more than one service. Having all the disciplines within one house makes it easier to schedule back-to-back appointments to accommodate the parents’ schedules.” “I absolutely adore playing in the sensorium with my patients,” Mayer concluded. “It’s so rewarding to see a child who was so sensitive to certain stimuli overcome the fear and learn to tolerate whatever triggered that emotion.” Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic is a nonprofit organization that has operated for more than 70 years in Indian River County. It’s located at 1705 17th Ave. in Vero Beach. You can call 772-562- 6977 or visit sunshineptc.org to learn more about their services. “It’s so rewarding to see a child who was so sensitive to certain stimuli overcome the fear and learn to tolerate whatever triggered that emotion.” – Katrena McMahan

10 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH www.veronews.com NEUROPATHY RELIEF CALL NOW! 564-2454 PAINFUL, BURNING, OR NUMB FEET? BALANCE PROBLEMS? PAINLESS EFFECTIVE TREATMENT NEUROPATHY & LASER CENTER 780 US 1, SUITE 200 VERO BEACH, FL 32962 DR. SUSAN PERKINS, DC TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE A CANDIDATE NeuropathyAndLaser.com Nearly one in three women experience urinary incontinence, including 50 percent of older women, but the condition doesn’t have to be a normal part of life. From lifestyle changes and medication to physical therapy and minimally invasive surgery, a range of successful treatment options are available. First, though, you have to get over your embarrassment and discuss the problem with your doctor, usually a gynecologist. According to Mayo Clinic, there are three kinds of urinary incontinence (UI). Stress incontinence occurs when urine leaks during sudden exertion such as coughing, bending, lifting, exercising or stepping on uneven surfaces. Urge incontinence is when you have a sudden, strong urge to go – even if you’ve recently peed. This can lead to accidents if a bathroom is not around. A mixed urinary continence can also occur, with a combination of urge and stress incontinence. While a range of causes may be behind the condition, Dr. Humberto Lamoutte, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Physicians to Women in Vero Beach, singles out obesity as the most important risk factor for daily urinary incontinence. Obesity results in increased intra-abdominal pressure. The excess fat around the belly places extra pressure on the bladder and urethra while the intra-abdominal pressure also leads to chronic stretching and strain on the pelvic floor, weakening muscles and nerves, which leads to loss of control of the bladder. Studies going back decades support Dr. Lamoutte’s opinion, finding that an increase in body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased risk of urinary incontinence. Dr. Lamoutte also cites excess coffee and alcohol consumption as exacerbating UI, as well as certain medications. “If you’ve been prescribed diuretics, speak to your PCP and see if there’s an alternative to the medication or the dosage,” he says. Mayo Clinic adds age-related physical changes and menopause to the list of potential causes of UI. An aging bladder muscle can decrease the bladder’s capacity to store urine, and after menopause women produce less estrogen, which helps keep the lining of the bladder and urethra healthy. Studies estimate that 61 percent of women with UI don’t seek treatment due to a variety of reasons. Everyday Health, a newsletter published a by team of medical and wellness experts, lists reasons some women suffer in silence: Thinking a leaky bladder Is a normal part of aging, partly because TV ads for pads and diapers make them think it’s normal. Being too embarrassed to bring it up with friends or doctors. Wide range of treatments can help with urinary incontinence By Jackie Holfelder | Correspondent

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH March 14, 2024 11 Thinking the problem is loose muscles when it is actually tension caused by tight pelvic muscles thatresult from unprocessed emotions and similar stressful feelings. Doing Kegel exercises incorrectly. Dr. Lamoutte recommends that virtually every woman suffering from UI do these easily executed exercises. Fearing that surgery will be the only solution, when, in fact, lifestyle changes and nonsurgical medical interventions are often very effective. Dr. Lamoutte advises that weight loss will help with incontinence, especially a loss of 8 percent or more of body weight. Other ways to treat UI include: Dietary changes – in addition to reducing coffee and alcohol consumption, eliminate or cut back on carbonated drinks and acidic foods (apples and oranges). Manage constipation. Medications that may help are available. Examples are anticholinergics, which help relax your bladder, and Beta 3 agonists, which relax the bladder muscle and can increase the amount of urine your bladder can hold. The latter may also increase the amount you are able to urinate at one time instead of small amounts more frequently. Botox – injections of Botox into the bladder muscle may be beneficial if you have an overactive bladder. Generally, this is prescribed only if medications or conservative treatments haven’t been successful. InterStim therapy – a small device the size of a pacemaker is placed under the skin in your hip area that sends electrical impulses to the sacral nerves, which control bladder contraction and function. Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) – designed to stimulate the nerves responsible for bladder control using the tibial nerve in your lower leg. During the procedure, a small, slim electrode is inserted near your tibial nerve and connected to a battery-powered stimulator. The impulses travel to the tibial nerve and then to the sacral nerve. In addition, surgeries like midurethral sling and bladder neck sling procedures treat stress incontinence and are designed to help the sphincter close or to support the bladder neck. Gels or other materials may be injected into tissues around the upper part of the urethra to bulk it up. A surgical procedure called colposuspension uses sutures joined to ligaments along the pubic bone. These sutures lift and support tissues near the bladder neck and upper part of the urethra. This surgery can be done through laparoscopic incisions, or by a larger cut in the abdomen. The Harvard Medical School newsletter outlines behavior-modification exercises that often are effective in alleviating UI.In addition to Kegel or pelvic floor exercises, it emphasizes the importance of training your bladder, which involves spacing out your voids. If you currently urinate every hour, make yourself wait one-anda-half hours before your next trip to the bathroom. Once you can do that easily, make yourself wait two hours, and so on. Your goal should be three to four hours between urinating. This may take several months to achieve. Although urinary incontinence is not a life-threatening medical condition, it can significantly affect quality of life. When UI becomes bothersome, people often stop activities they enjoy such as traveling, exercising, and visiting family and friends. A visit to a gynecologist will offer a host of options to help overcome this all-too-common condition. Dr. Humberto Lamoutte, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Physicians to Women, earned his MD degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, where he also completed his residency. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Physicians to Women is located at 1000 37th Place, #105 in Vero Beach: 772-288-2992. Dr. Humberto Lamoutte. PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS

12 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH www.veronews.com Q. I’ve been hearing a lot more about the health benefits of aspirin. Is it some kind of cure-all or am I the victim of hype? A. I wouldn’t call it hype. There’s a lot of research that indicates aspirin is good for many ailments. It can also have serious side effects. Aspirin is in a group of drugs called salicylates. It works by reducing substances in the body that cause pain, fever, swelling and blood clots. Aspirin is used to treat mild to moderate pain, fever or inflammation. It is sometimes used to treat or prevent heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular conditions. Recent studies concluded that taking aspirin may battle cancer. Aspirin reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes by preventing blood clots from forming along the lining of blood vessels. Blood clots block the flow of blood. Clots that block blood flow to the heart cause heart attacks, and clots that block blood flow to the brain cause strokes. Aspirin’s most common side effect is upper abdominal pain caused by gastric irritation. Aspirin causes gastrointestinal bleeding in about 1 out of 1,000 patients treated for a year, and 1 percent to 2 percent of people are allergic to aspirin. Other possible side effects are nausea, vomiting, heartburn, hives, rash, swelling, wheezing, hoarseness, rapid heartbeat and breathing, clammy skin, ringing in the ears, loss of hearing, bloody vomit and blood in stools. Many people take a low-dose aspirin daily to prevent heart attacks. Don’t start this therapy on your own; ask your doctor about it. And don’t stop taking daily aspirin without consulting a physician. WARNING: Stopping daily aspirin therapy can have a rebound effect that may increase your risk of heart attack. A common question: Should you take an aspirin if you think you’re having a heart attack? First, call 911. The operator may advise you to chew an aspirin but will first make sure you don’t have health conditions that would make taking an aspirin during a heart attack too risky. Aspirin is a non-steroidal inflammatory drug (NSAID). Other NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and naproxen (Aleve). Aspirin is a unique NSAID because it is the only one that inhibits blood clotting for a prolonged period – four to seven days. If you are taking aspirin regularly to prevent heart attack or stroke, do not take other NSAIDs to treat pain or fever without talking to your doctor. Along with its many potential benefits, aspirin’s blood-thinning effect can pose a danger of excessive bleeding in the case of cuts, hemorrhages and other injuries. ASPIRIN HAS WIDE RANGE OF HEALTH BENEFITS By Fred Cicetti | Columnist

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | YOUR HEALTH March 14, 2024 13 Viking Therapeutics posted results of an experimental drug that showed even better weight loss than the current market-leading drugs, a sign that the dominance of Ozempic and Mounjaro is far from assured. Viking said last Tuesday that a midstage trial showed that obese or overweight patients on the highest dose of its drug lost an average of about 14.7 percent of their body weight after injecting it once weekly for 13 weeks – or a loss of 13 percent beyond what a placebo group experienced. That weight loss is even steeper over that time than Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide. Viking’s stock price more than doubled on the news Tuesday, giving it a stock-market value of $8.5 billion. The company’s share price has more than quadrupled so far this year. Viking’s apparent success could take some of the shine off Eli Lilly if it attracts a global partner to develop the drug, David Risinger, an analyst for Leerink Partners, said in a research note. Still, he noted, it remains to be seen whether Viking reproduces its results in late-stage trials it would need for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have dominated the market for new obesity and diabetes drugs, which work by stimulating naturally occurring hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. The runaway success of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, have supercharged the revenue of both companies – and forced them to take extraordinary measures as they try to keep up with patient demand. Viking, though much smaller and less well known, has been wowing investors for the past year with its drug VK2735, which acts on two receptors like Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide. Viking reported that patients in its trial had adverse events such as nausea and vomiting but said the cases were mild or moderate. One patient had a severe case of dehydration, the company said. Brian Lian, Viking’s CEO, said in a statement that patients taking the drug were continuing to lose weight at 13 weeks, “suggesting further weight loss might be achieved from extended dosing periods.” Viking is also working on a pill form of its injectable drug, as are Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. THIS EXPERIMENTAL WEIGHT-LOSS DRUG COULD OUTDO OZEMPIC By Daniel Gilbert | The Washington Post

14 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE www.veronews.com Are you the one for whom this serene and radiant home is waiting? If so, you’ll likely know it very quickly. If you long for the warmth and welcome of a cottage designed to the highest standards that embraces and is embraced by the natural world, this could be the place for you – a residence of subtle sophistication on a private and enchanting parcel. Truly a work of art – and built like a fortress – the Balinese-inspired dwelling at 2436 Pine Ave. was conceived and curated by local designer Josh Cook of Columbus & Cook Furnishings, a gifted furniture designer who traveled the world collecting the high-quality materials utilized in the construction, as well as the furniture outfitting the interior. (The furnishings are negotiable.) The 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2,149 -squarefoot house sits on a green lawn, nestled among old-growth oak and palm trees, a private, nature-centric haven. Beneath the home’s graceful rooflines, a row of teak wood architectural elements march along the soffit. There is a recessed French door entry, and, to the right, the garage door becomes an art element, with brown-framed yellow panels. Cook has created a floorplan that maximizes the bucolic views, as well as the interior spaces, enhanced by expertly curated, top-quality materials, furnishings and art. Through white French doors, step into the foyer, which offers a first taste of the serene beauty within. Separating foyer from dining room are antique columns and a room divider/ doorway from Bali. The flooring here and in the dining room is pillow-edge limestone from France – which is about as classy as it gets. The dining table, created with teak slabs from Java, and six hand-caned teak chairs sit parallel to this “wall,” beneath one of the home’s several exquisite, converted hanging oil lamp chandeliers – also from Java. Opposite the teak dining table, clear By Samantha Rohlfing Baita | Staff Writer [email protected] Balinese-style home in Royal Park features finest materials and furnishings

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE March 14, 2024 15 glass panels – windows and French door – open to the patio/courtyard and the incomparable, fenced woods beyond. Throughout the home, simple windows allow a flow of soft, natural light to fill the interior while also providing tranquil views of the surrounding beauty. Kitchen, great room, and primary bedroom floors, and the exterior soffit, are Marbau, a cherry-hued hardwood indigenous to Bali. The kitchen features sleek black cabinetry; a sturdy coconut palm column; open, carved hardwood beams; and two 3-inch-thick slabs of Raintree wood atop the island counter. The counter housing the Travertine farmhouse sink is of Kashmir-quarried granite; and the kitchen wall tile is, says Cook, “from the oldest working kiln in America, located in Vermont.” Then, through a sliding door, discover the walk-in pantry, one of Cook’s most charming creations. It’s actually a little room, with a converted antique Balinese dowery chest and coconut palm columns supporting the plentiful open shelving. There’s also a view, via a lovely robin’s egg blue door with a large glass window that leads to the side yard. The powder room is another gem, with a gorgeous cerulean blue wall above pillow-edge limestone tiles, a stone vessel sink atop a Balinese teak pedestal, and an antique mirror from Buenos Aires.

16 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE www.veronews.com The comfy great room features a vaulted, open-beam ceiling and graceful antique wingback sofa – another piece from Buenos Aires. The view from here is spectacular, with a wide window wall revealing the beautiful, sun-dappled back yard, blurring the line between inside and out. Through a carved teak double door with transom, beneath a vaulted 14-foot ceiling with fan and recessed lighting, the spacious primary suite is a serene retreat with a window wall to the surrounding woodland. Wake up to the beauty of the morning. Here you’ll discover a carved, colored double door entrance to the walk-in “closet,” which is a sizable room with a pair of converted oil lamp chandeliers, lofty, elegant ceiling, drawers, shelves and long stretches of hanging space. The washer and dryer are here, too, though Cook notes there’s also a hook-up for them in the garage. The bathroom is another one-of-a-kind dream, with deep, corner jetted hot tub, wide windows, tinted glass door to the yard; black limestone floor tile; black granite countertop; Hollywood regency chandelier; and open shower with a blue with gold Bahia stone mosaic. The guest bedroom charms with carved teak double door, pillow-edge limestone floor, antique Javanese headboard, walk-in closet and window wall view to the front. Subtle drapes and shutters provide privacy. The guest bath features a shower; quartzite vanity top; white subway tile; and white floor tile with blue glass borders. Star of the marble-paved courtyard garden is a rectangular sitting pool beneath a magnificent carved sandstone wall relief from Bali. Cook points out the numerous tropical plants thriving in this green haven: Loquat trees; rare Javanese golden gardenia; blue java banana palms, among others. He shares that the cypress backyard shed was “built by a grandson of Waldo Sexton.” Royal Park is within easy walking distance of Vero’s downtown arts, gallery, entertainment and restaurant district, and only a 10-minute drive away from Vero’s world-famous island village, with its highend boutiques, fine restaurants, resorts, country clubs, live theater, art museum, riverside dog park, marinas and miles of clean, uncrowded beaches. Neighborhood: Royal Park Year built: 2013 Construction: Block/concrete; concrete shake-style roof Home size: 2,149 square feet Bedrooms: 2 • Bathrooms: 2.5 Additional features: Central heat/air; 2-bay garage; shed; highend appliances; water purifier; pantry; crown molding; soaring ceilings: full-house Surround Sound; walk-in closets; outdoor shower; impact glass; courtyard patio; public water/sewer Listing agency: AMAC Alex MacWilliam Inc. Listing agent: John Stringer, 908-377-1626 Listing price: $1,150,000 FEATURES FOR 2436 PINE AVE.

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE March 14, 2024 17 Texas St Texas State Representative Cody Vasut, a Republican from outside Houston, believes in the horseshoe theory of politics, which holds that on some issues, the far right is closer to the far left than the center. That’s how Vasut, who proudly identifies as “one of the most conservative members” of the Texas House, found himself at YIMBYtown, a pro-housing conference in Austin. The annual event began in 2016 as a conclave of young urbanists associated with the Yes In My Backyard movement, which emerged from San Francisco about a decade ago. But the more than 600 activists, policy wonks, academics and elected officials who gathered in early March at the Austin conference represented a wide range of political persuasions, including a contingent of conservatives like Vasut. “Having affordable housing not only is a civil rights issue,” he said. “It’s a pro-business issue and property rights issue.” As a housing shortage drives up prices in cities and towns across America, an unlikely – and uneasy – bipartisan coalition of advocates and lawmakers has converged to advance zoning reform and encourage more housing construction. In general, YIMBYs call for upzoning, or rolling back the single-family zoning laws that make it so difficult to build other kinds of housing across so many U.S. cities. The tensions within this horseshoe-shaped coalition were on full display in Austin, where rents and home prices increased faster than almost anywhere else in the country over the last decade. Vasut spoke on a panel split along ideological lines. Brennan Griffin of Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit focused on social and racial justice, shared a stage with Judge Glock, director of research at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute, and Chance Weldon, the director of litigation for the Texas Public Policy Foundation (another conservative think tank). The panel was organized by Texans for Reasonable Solutions, a nonpartisan group that fought last session – mostly unsuccessfully –for bills that would reduce minimum lot sizes, allow for more accessory dwelling units and accelerate the permitting process. Fifteen minutes after it began, the panel was interrupted by a coordinated protest. An activist with Community Powered ATX, a coalition of East Austin residents, stood up to shout, “Why should we believe that any of these people in here care about affordable housing in Austin?” Half a dozen others stood to join her, chanting “people over profit” and holding their mobile phones up to record the confrontation. “You, Judge Glock, helped fund the criminalization of homelessness here in Austin,” yelled one, referring to a 2021 ballot measure that banned camping in public places. “Yeah, maybe,” Glock said in response, sardonic. Some audience members laughed. The group handed out flyers listing the rightwing bent of several speakers. For Nicole Nosek, founder of Texans for Reasonable Solutions, the protest reflected the urgency of the issue. “If you’ve got folks from these different parts of the political system that are all coming out to say we need change to our land use to make sure that working Texans can find a home within our urban cores and cities, that tells me that it’s probably time for a change,” she said. From the beginning, the YIMBY movement has been bipartisan, said Sonja Trauss, a San Francisco activist who started showing up to planning meetings in 2014, demanding the city build more housing. She founded a group called SF Bay Area Renters Federation – or SFBARF – which morphed into Yes In My Backyard and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2019. In its early years, the YIMBY movement was a loose confederation, rooted in “wildcat activism,” she said. But gradually, it professionalized: Yes In My Backyard started a political arm called YIMBY Action, which lobbies for housing reform and oversees 49 local chapters in 23 states, plus a legal affiliate, YIMBY Law, to compel cities to enforce their own housing solutions. Early YIMBYs were partisan in a “big tent” sense, Trauss said; even if its members were mostly progressive, the movement tried to accommodate different ideologies and motivations. “But now it’s actually literal,” she said. “There are Republicans sponsoring bills. We have to maintain that for success.” ZONING REFORM TRIES TO BUILD A BIGGER TENT By Megan Kimble and Kriston Capps | Bloomberg CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

18 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE www.veronews.com MAINLAND REAL ESTATE SALES: MARCH 4 THROUGH MARCH 8 TOP SALES OF THE WEEK A moderately busy week for mainland real estate sales saw 38 transactions of single-family resi- dences and lots reported (some shown below). The week’s top sale was in Vero Beach, where the 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom pool home at 5078 Monroe Circle – listed last August for $900,000 – sold for $850,000 on March 6. Representing the seller in the transaction was agent Sally Daley of Douglas Elliman Florida LLC. Representing the buyer was agent Bob Faller of Berkshire Hathaway Florida. SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCES AND LOTS ORIGINAL SELLING TOWN ADDRESS LISTED ASKING PRICE SOLD PRICE VERO BEACH 5078 MONROE CIR 8/27/2023 $900,000 3/6/2024 $850,000 VERO BEACH 4220 STRICKLAND WAY 9/27/2023 $815,000 3/6/2024 $785,000 VERO BEACH 4855 13TH PL 10/2/2023 $699,998 3/4/2024 $625,800 VERO BEACH 5215 ELEUTHRA CIR 1/18/2024 $624,900 3/4/2024 $600,000 VERO BEACH 6355 HIGH POINTE WEST WAY 9/11/2023 $593,818 3/6/2024 $579,368 VERO BEACH 5123 FORMOSA CIR 1/9/2024 $589,500 3/4/2024 $575,000 VERO BEACH 670 TANGELO CIR SW 12/21/2023 $529,900 3/8/2024 $532,500 VERO BEACH 4783 WOOD DUCK CIR 11/7/2023 $520,000 3/4/2024 $480,000 VERO BEACH 2325 18TH AVE 1/3/2024 $475,000 3/4/2024 $475,000 SEBASTIAN 488 ARBOR ST 12/30/2023 $470,000 3/4/2024 $470,000 VERO BEACH 753 24TH 1/18/2024 $432,900 3/4/2024 $432,900 VERO BEACH 1629 VICTORIA CIR 12/15/2023 $450,000 3/8/2024 $420,000 VERO BEACH 5130 WINDJAMMER LN 2/5/2024 $450,000 3/6/2024 $410,000 SEBASTIAN 1512 EASTLAKE LN 12/13/2023 $410,000 3/7/2024 $400,000 Stats were pulled 3/9/24 12:34 PM

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE March 14, 2024 19 HERE ARE SOME OF THE TOP RECENT INDIAN RIVER COUNTY REAL ESTATE SALES. Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: 9/11/2023 $593,818 3/6/2024 $579,368 Jeffrey Germano The GHO Homes Agency LLC NOT PROVIDED NOT PROVIDED 6355 High Pointe West Way, Vero Beach 1/18/2024 $624,900 3/4/2024 $600,000 Jonathan Sternberg ONE Sotheby’s Int’l Realty NOT PROVIDED NOT PROVIDED 5215 Eleuthra Cir, Vero Beach 10/2/2023 $699,998 3/4/2024 $625,800 Vicky Santana NextHome Santana Real Estate Jessica Massagee Alex MacWilliam, Inc. 4855 13th Pl, Vero Beach 9/27/2023 $815,000 3/6/2024 $785,000 Cheryl Burge Berkshire Hathaway Florida Carolyn MacEvoy Mac Evoy Real Estate Co 4220 Strickland Way, Vero Beach

20 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | REAL ESTATE www.veronews.com One of those bills comes from Kentucky, where State Representative Steven Doan introduced legislation in January that would legalize fourplexes, tiny homes and accessory dwelling units across the state. Other reforms in the omnibus bill would legalize home businesses, forbid prohibitions on renting and end mandatory minimum square footage requirements for homes. And it would add a shot clock to permitting approvals, allowing construction to proceed after 60 days. “You’ll see these unelected bureaucrats who work in a planning and development government entity, and they’ll just sit on applications,” said Doan, speaking from Kentucky for an interview. “Homebuilders will be wanting to build and ready to build, but they just can’t do it because some government bureaucrat isn’t pushing the paper.” As a real estate attorney and former president of an emergency shelter in northern Kentucky, Doan speaks knowledgeably about codes and regulations, hitting popular YIMBY talking points. Yet he also says that a housing abundance agenda fits within the free market populism of today’s GOP. “This [bill] allows a homeowner or a landowner to decide exactly what they do with their property and gets away from the central planning that is local planning and zoning.” Doan represents a conservative district that includes several Cincinnati suburbs and describes himself as a liberty-leaning Republican. “Thomas Massie is my congressman and a big supporter of mine,” he said, referring to the libertarian Republican who joined the House in the Tea Party era. In other words, Doan’s GOP bonafides are firm. But his housing omnibus has won the support of progressive Democrats from Louisville, he says, who are backing it for equity reasons. While the first wave of upzoning efforts came from deep-blue places such as Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon, the Kentucky bill arrives amid a broader rethink on the right about housing reforms. After city commissioners in the college town of Gainesville, Florida, passed a bill to end exclusionary zoning in August 2022, for example, it prompted a backlash from Republican lawmakers at the state level. Yet just two months later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the Live Local Act, a bill that peeled back many zoning restrictions – while also preempting local rent control. Conservative involvement in housing reform is not new. Legal scholar Michael Lewyn has argued for more than 20 years that sprawl is a conservative issue, a condition resulting from “runaway statism rather than the free market.” More conservatives taking up the YIMBY cause could transform the pipeline for pro-housing policies. Doan based his bill on model legislation written by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit. Jamie Cavanaugh, a legislative specialist for the organization, said that attorneys wrote the bill by looking at restrictions on property rights. This model legislation is new, she says, drafted last summer in response to recent policies passed by state and local governments. Zoning reform is the kind of procedural issue that usually fails to capture headlines. But that same under-the-radar quality enables Democrats and Republicans at either end of the horseshoe to come together in bipartisan coalitions to make real change. Doan says that young voters should demand this work from their lawmakers. “If you’re a millennial who’s living in your parents’ basement,” Doan said, “you should be storming your capitol over a bill like this.” Democrats predominated at YIMBYtown: Austin Mayor Kirk Watson introduced California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Bay Area legislator who has long led upzoning efforts in the state, to open the proceedings, while former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro delivered the keynote. But they were joined by some prominent GOP voices, including Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, who spoke virtually about the suite of zoning reforms passed by the state in 2023. “Really foundational to our approach to expanding housing is recognizing that this is primarily a supply problem,” Gianforte said. “We used essentially free-market approaches. There were some that advocated for demand-side incentives to help people pay rent or these sorts of things. And we have a number of those programs. But as we looked at the magnitude of the problem we had in Montana, there just wasn’t enough money in the bank to buy our way out of this problem.” Housing reform, however, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Montana lawmakers advanced five YIMBY bills that allowed duplexes to be built on single-family lots, legalized accessory dwelling units, and enabled multifamily and mixed-use development in commercial zones. During the same session, they also banned gender-affirming care for transgender children. When a transgender lawmaker told her colleagues they would have “blood on your hands” for voting for the bill, she was barred from the statehouse floor, prompting widespread protests. “We’re working on these wonderful, lofty, everyone-can-get-on-board, bipartisan housing bills,” said Jake Brown, a political consultant in Helena. “And then all of a sudden, Democrats and Republicans can’t even look at each other.” In the waning days of the Montana legislative session, House and Senate lawmakers were hashing out the final details of several bills. Housing advocates had intended to tweak the bills in the final step, Brown said. “Because of the general vibe of the Montana State Capitol and how much legislators absolutely hated each other, we were like, you know, maybe it’s not the best time to tinker with stuff; let’s just get this bill passed into the governor’s desk as soon as possible.” Gianforte signed all five housing bills into law. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

From the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to symphonic and chamber, there are a wealth of concerts for music lovers in the next few days. The music begins Saturday when cellist, composer and vocalist Mike Block performs in a solo concert. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the First Presbyterian Church, 520 Royal Palm Blvd, Vero Beach. Tickets are $25. Funds raised will help the Mike Block String Camp Scholarship Fund. For more information, visit VeroBeachInternational MusicFestival.com. On Sunday, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra and the Vero Beach Museum of Art will team up for its next performance in their Chamber Music Series. The concerts are presented in the museum’s Leonhardt Auditorium. SEGER’S A REAL ADVENTURER CONTINUED ON PAGE B3 ALL AROUND TOWN, AN AMAZING RANGE OF MUSIC TO ENJOY By Pam Harbaugh | Correspondent Coming Up 1 CLINIC’S SENSORIUM 14 HELPS AUTISTIC KIDS 8 HOUSES OF THE WEEK: ROYAL PARK HOME B10 BLISS ON CANVAS BARBARA GLOVER PAINTING IS PERSONAL AND PEACEFUL FOR ARTIST GLOVER PAGE B2 2

B2 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | ARTS & THEATRE www.veronews.com Barbara Glover, one of 11 co-owners at the Artists Guild Gallery, was kept busy earlier in her life raising her family and teaching, which she did for 42 years before retiring. Although she has always been creative, from fingerpainting with children to dabbling in fine art, it wasn’t until her retirement that she truly was able to devote time to the canvas. “There really wasn’t time. The good news is it’s like riding a bike. You can always go back to it.” One of five children, Glover grew up in Stamford, Conn. When her mother recognized her daughter’s creative abilities, she encouraged her to do what she loved – art. “We would sit and draw together,” says Glover. Then in seventh grade, she began taking oil painting lessons with two friends, who both went on to become successful artists. Other than art, teaching was her first love, and working with academically gifted children allowed her to use her creativity every day. “We dissected eyeballs and made cameras,” Glover recalls. After retiring, she and her husband were anxious for “travel and adventure.” “I was interested in photographing beautiful and remote locations. Both my husband and I wanted to experience small towns, the food, wine and people,” says Glover, noting that a trip to Lake Como, Italy, was pivotal. “The romance of travel and my passion for painting are the driving forces for me to create. My hope is that my paintings allow you to step into a magical place, giving you peace and tranquility,” she explains. “I found my passion in the process of painting rather than just trying to create a finished product. I became one with the paint. I was hooked. I never thought that it would be so invigorating. I’ve always enjoyed artwork, but I never thought of it as a career. It was just something for fun.” She became even more serious about painting when her grandchildren came along, and was especially motivated after learning how expensive it was to have a painting done. Delving headlong into the craft, she took a lot of workshops to learn as much as she could. “I want something pretty that makes you feel good when you look at it. I wanted paintings in my home and to surround myself with things that make me happy.” She knew she was onto something when her daughter and son-in-law hung a painting Glover had done for them. “It doesn’t get any better than that,” she says, beaming with pride. Preferring to use bold colors to express BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF STAFF WRITER PAINTING IS PERSONAL AND PEACEFUL FOR ARTIST GLOVER PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | ARTS & THEATRE March 14, 2024 B3 This Sunday’s concert will present the Flute Summons, featuring Tina Apelgren. In considering the flute’s representation in ancient Egypt and mythology, the concert is designed to reflect the museum’s current exhibition, “Ancient Egypt & the Napoleonic Era.” The concert begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 for museum members, $50 for non-members and $5 for children. Tickets allow entrance to the museum galleries, which, on Sundays, are open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is at 3001 Riverside Park Dr. Call 772- 231-0707 or visit VBMuseum.org. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents Trios Transformed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, at Trinity Episcopal Church. The concert features pianist Wu Han, cellist David Finckel and violinist Arnaud Sussmann. The program includes four works of trios by Beethoven and Haydn. There will be a pre-concert talk with the artists at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $65. The Trinity Episcopal Church is at 2365 Pine Ave., Vero Beach. For more information, visit Chamber MusicSociety.org. Enjoy music outdoors when the Vero Beach Museum of Art Concerts in the Park presents Mike Telesmanick Thursday, March 21. The concert begins at 5 p.m. and includes a live performance, a cash bar, and Off the Hook Food Truck. Concert-goers are encouraged to bring a chair or picnic blankets. You may bring a dog if it is well behaved and remains on a leash. Tickets are $10 for museum members and $12 for non-members. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is at 3001 Riverside Park Dr. Call 772-231-0707, ext. 111, email jzwergel@ vbmuseum.org or visit VBMuseum.org. Live from Vero Beach kicks it all up a few notches when it presents “The Beatles vs. The Stones: A Musical Showdown” 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at the Emerson Center. The tribute bands performing will be Abbey Road and Satisfaction, both highly rated for their faithfulness to the original music. The bands each perform two sets, “trading places in quick set changes and ending the night with an all-out encore involving both bands.” Also, expect costumes and multi-media visuals. The nonprofit partner of the concert is Grand Harbor Community Outreach, which helps those in need of health, education and human services in Indian River County. You can help the group by entering the code GRAND in the discount space on the website and Grand Harbor will receive a 25 percent donation off the ticket price. Tickets are $45 to $95. The Emerson Center is at 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. For more information, call 800-595-4849 or visit MusicWorksConcerts.com. her “impressionistic view of the world,” oil has always been her medium of choice. “You can play with it. Any mistake can be corrected, and you can change it at any time,” she says. Glover paints using a variety of tools, even her fingers, hands, and body. “I love the feel and texture of the paint. I am one with the paint. I’m pretty much covered in it. If you’re clean when you’re done, you’re not doing it right.” After experimenting with cold wax, she found she enjoyed that too. “It’s like painting with butter. I sometimes roll color out with a roller, put different layers on top, and melt through,” Glover says. “It just kind of swirls.” She also likes to contrast darks and lights through the skillful use of layering and texture, a technique that is particularly handy when painting the sky, reflections, and water. “I find joy in capturing the emotion, movement and depth of a scene. The sky isn’t a solid color. There’s nothing solid about it. When you melt the wax, it has a way of magically swirling together. It’s like magic being one with the sky,” she explains. For someone who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty, Glover says all of her household chores have to be finished before she can focus on a painting. “I need to be at peace. Then, I might paint for seven hours at a time. I get really lost in the process. It’s truly a passion.” Adding that “artwork is personal,” Glover says she only paints things that she loves. “Whenever I do a commission, I say up front, ‘I paint so that I’m happy with it. I can’t paint to try to please you. If you like my style, wonderful. If you don’t like the finished product, you’re not allowed to have it.’” She also numbers each one of the paintings and enters details about them in a notebook. “They’re like my children,” she says, adding that she’s completed more than 630 paintings. While she generally works from photographs, Glover says that her paintings are romanticized, often taking something from a photograph and building the painting from there. “I’m not into drawing that much. I work from a photo, and I love to change things as I paint. The only reason to paint something is to add something, take away something, or make it more emotive,” she explains. She enjoys painting nature and places she sees while traveling, and a particular favorite subject of hers is painting children at the beach; she first shoots videos of them to capture their “natural movement.” However, she prefers not to depict faces, choosing instead to paint them from behind because she wants the finished work to be “emotive.” Glover’s work can be seen at the Artists Guild Gallery on 14th Avenue. Giving Pets a New Leash on Life! Dr. Amber Callaway Lewis DVM, CCRT, CAMP Dr. Michele Morissette DC, CAC Physical Rehabilitation and Non-Surgical Management Options Advanced Arthritis Management Chiropractic Care Therapeutic and Medical Massage Senior and Puppy Fitness 825 18th Street Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 492-6066 www.tcanimalrehab.com CONTINUED FROM PAGE B1 3 4 5

B4 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | DINING www.veronews.com OPEN DAILY 4-10PM TAKEOUT AVAILABLE INDOOR AND PATIO SEATING HAPPY HOUR AT THE BAR 4-6 PM VISIT trattoriadario.com FOR RESERVATIONS VISIT FOR RESERVATIONS 1555 Ocean Dr • 772-231-1818 3103 Cardinal Drive, Vero Beach, FL (772) 234-3966 • tidesofvero.com Open Daily at 5pm • Reservations Highly Recommended • Proper Attire Appreciated CELEBRATING OVER 24 YEARS Fine Dining, Elevated • Exciting Innovative Cuisine Award Winning Wine List • Unparalleled Service Choose a two or three course family-style menu with a selection of appetizers, salads, and entrées. Dessert and wines are also available. Your meal will be packaged in oven-safe serving containers along with reheating instructions. Let THE TIDES Make your Family’s Scan for details and to order Easter Dinner Pick-up available on Saturday, March 30 from 10:30 am-2:30 pm

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | DINING March 14, 2024 B5 Serving Dinner Tues - Sat from 5pm (772) 226-7870 Downwn Vero Bea 2023 14th Avenue www.VeroPrime.com Prime Steaks, Seafood & Italian Specialties Happy Hour featuring Premium Spirits Nightly 5 - 6:30pm (Bar Only) Early Dining Menu Nightly 5 - 5:30pm Easter Brunch Sunday, March 31st Wave Seating: $95 Adults | $35 Children 5-12 Enjoy Chef Armando’s Easter Brunch Featuring a Raw Bar, Prime Rib Carving Station, Omelet Station and Much More! 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM *EXCLUSIVE OF 7% TAX AND 20% GRATUITY www.costadeste.com | 772.410.0100 Reservations Required

B6 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | DINING www.veronews.com 56 Royal Palm Pointe 772-567-4160 Follow us on Facebook & Instagram OPEN FOR DINNER WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY BEGINNING AT 4 PM. CLOSED MONDAY & TUESDAY. THE ENTIRE MENU IS AVAILABLE FOR TAKEOUT ONLINE ORDERING WITH TOASTTAKEOUT.COM SALADS, PASTA, VEAL, CHICKEN , SUBS AND DESSERTS OPEN WEDNESDAY - SUNDAY 1931 Old Dixie • 772.770.0977 fishackverobeach.com • Like us on Facebook! Gift Certificates, Private Parties & Patio Dining Available We Will Reimburse for Parking. HAPPY HOUR 4-6 PM l TUES.- SAT. WE CAN ACCOMMODATE LARGE PARTIES TUES OPEN FOR DINNER AT 4 I ALL YOU CAN EAT FISH FRY WED-SAT OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER CLOSED SUNDAYS & MONDAYS OFFERING Local Fish Northern Fish Patio Dining Happy Hour Best Margaritas Full Liquor Bar Large Parties Daily Specials OPEN Tues-Sun 11:30 AM to Close Daily Drink Specials Daily Dinner Specials Where Vero goes for a Lil bit of Ireland! 2019 14th Ave (772) 217-2183 seanryanpub.com Chef Chet Perrotti Be Known’ My Friends March 17 is the Wearin’ O’ the Green Sean Ryan Pub is the place for St Patrick’s Day Celebrate with us and the Jameson Shot Girls with outside bar & dining available

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | GAMES March 14, 2024 B7 A positive inference is attractive By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist Despite Sir Isaiah Berlin’s claim that “men ... live by positive goals,” there are times when bridge-playing men – and women, of course – have to live by negative goals. You learn something crucial because of a bid or play an opponent didn’t make. Drawing these negative inferences is one of the arts of the game. The bidding in today’s deal was tricky. Ideally, North-South would have reached three no-trump, but that is easier said than done. North might bid two no-trump over two hearts. Alternatively, there is a toy! On the first round, South makes a jump cue-bid of three hearts. This shows eight or nine guaranteed tricks, with a long, solid minor, and asks North to bid three no-trump with a heart stopper. But without this gadget, suppose South winds up in five diamonds. After winning trick one with the spade ace, declarer draws trumps. Then he leads a low heart from hand. When West puts in the eight, which card should South play from the board? Given that West has at least five hearts and opening-bid values, it looks, at first glance, best to put up the queen, playing West for the ace-king. But think back to the opening lead. If you were West, holding the spade king-queen and heart ace-king, which card would you have selected? Right, a top heart. Therefore, because West didn’t lead a heart, East must have the singleton king or ace. Declarer plays low from the board, letting East’s honor fall on fallow ground. A moment later, South leads toward the heart queen again and makes his contract. Dealer: West; Vulnerable: East-West NORTH 6 5 3 2 Q 6 3 2 J 5 3 2 2 WEST K Q J 9 A J 10 9 8 4 Q 10 8 SOUTH A 7 5 4 A K Q 10 9 7 6 A K EAST 10 8 7 4 K 8 J 9 7 6 5 4 3 The Bidding: OPENING LEAD: K Spades SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 1 Hearts Pass Pass Dbl. Pass 1 Spades 2 Clubs 2 Hearts Pass 2 Spades Pass 4 Diamonds Pass 5 Diamonds All Pass

B8 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | GAMES www.veronews.com The Telegraph How to do Sudoku: Fill in the grid so the numbers one through nine appear just once in every column, row and three-by-three square. The Telegraph SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (MARCH 7) ON PAGE B11 ACROSS 7. Taj Mahal site (4) 8. Adversary (3) 9. Hops-based drink (4) 10. Gaudy (6) 11. Funny programme (6) 12. Chop (3) 13. Flower part (6) 14. Per annum (6) 16. Bucking horse (6) 19. Mogul (6) 21. Schuss or slalom? (3) 22. Kiss and – (4,2) 24. Band (6) 25. Tread heavily (4) 26. Flightless bird (3) 27. Large tooth (4) DOWN 1. Appalled (6) 2. Lucky charm (8) 3. Asian language (6) 4. Cow breed (6) 5. Assist in wrongdoing (4) 6. Flinch (6) 15. Precise (8) 17. Is that right? (6) 18. Piscivorous bird (6) 19. Paper handkerchief (6) 20. Resist (6) 23. Whirlpool (4)

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | GAMES March 14, 2024 B9 ACROSS 1 Bubbly relaxer 4 Majestic 9 Pinnacle 13 Complicated predicament 19 An LBJ beagle 20 Hotpoint rival 21 Mao’s P.M. 22 Not in any key 23 Bivouac? 26 Tricky question 27 Early alphabet 28 Request of a sort 29 Nile goddess 31 “M” portrayer Bernard 32 The general’s favorite flowers? 36 Some enlistees, briefly 38 Be witty 39 Be bratty 40 Range of knowledge 41 Only things on base that are more uncomfortable than bunk beds? 45 Chan portrayer 47 Start of an island 48 Multi-headed monster 49 Good news for hungry soldiers? 55 Calf ID 56 TNT’s ending 57 Mild oath 58 Hugo hero 61 Finger feature 64 Art-rocker Brian 65 Almanac datum 69 Army discharge? 73 News from the governor 74 Historical time 75 Improve 76 Bilingüismo subject 77 Society newbies 79 1960s Pontiac 81 Whirling, to a poet 82 The real singers of “Wake Up, Little Susie”? 90 Whisky’s Walker 91 Arctic explorer John, or a certain organ backward 92 Violinist Mischa 93 Overreaction to army food? 97 Cruet content 98 “Outta here,” as a well-hit ball 102 Dixit preceder 103 Skull Island find in a 1933 film 104 With 115 Across, song from a WAC musical? 107 Spring time 108 Hat part 110 Israeli airline 112 Has it ___ (holds a grudge against) 113 In a card catalog 115 See 104 Across 120 Instigate 121 Mrs. Victor Laszlo 122 Kate’s pal 123 Corn container 124 Daisylike flowers 125 Prof. Xavier-vs.-Magneto film of 2000 126 Bypasses 127 Extreme part DOWN 1 Music marks 2 Singer Clark 3 Relatives of rings 4 Midnight Cowboy role 5 Type widths 6 Moo goo ___ pan 7 Dict. abbr. 8 Preminger classic 9 Play’s end, perhaps 10 Midwestern tribe 11 Pasture sound 12 Maria Shriver’s mom 13 Husband, in Le Havre 14 Mayberry’s self-incarcerator 15 Casting need 16 “Live ___” 17 It comes with a price 18 Icy rains 24 Takes home 25 Kin of dep. 30 Wind dir. 33 The Sooner St. 34 Trim 35 Belly-button type 37 Oslo inlet 38 Lightsaber wielder 42 That guy’s 43 Electromagnetic particles 44 Na or Cl, e.g. 45 “That’s an ___!” 46 Clinton Cabinet member Shalala 49 Feature 50 Turkish candy 51 “Have fun!” 52 Under, to poets 53 “Twas ___ was born” (Shak.) 54 Lake rental 55 Certain undies 59 Military school 60 Israeli desert 62 Judge Lance 63 Actress Jessica 65 Stop’s partner 66 Jazz pianist McCoy 67 Medicinal plants 68 Blab 70 Nixon crony Rebozo 71 Refrain from bothering 72 Pitcher Warren 78 Car alarm? 80 Synthetic fiber 82 Metaphorical marker of family authority 83 Small tantrum 84 Gaelic 85 College cheer 86 Generous giving 87 Oahu memento 88 Leave out 89 Shower powder 93 Champagne-O.J. drink 94 Go to Stowe 95 Old western star 96 Hebrew month 98 Ibsen character 99 The Presidency, for example 100 Pindit Peggy 101 Assignment of a sort 105 Korbut et al. 106 Ceremonies 108 Become hazy 109 Agents, briefly 111 Incline 114 Anger 116 Freddy Krueger’s street 117 Antlered critter 118 Cosell’s long-time foil 119 Stinging quality The Telegraph The Washington Post ...A sharp salute to government-issue puns Rank Humor By Merl Reagle

B10 March 14, 2024 VeroNews/Sebastian River News | PETS www.veronews.com This week’s innerview-ee is a fellow water-fan, Seger Tillery. (Us English Springer Span-yulls are Super Good Swimmers.) Seger’s a Chock-lutt Lab, an he suggested meetin’ over at that place on the river where humans – an sometimes their pooches – launch their paddle boards. It wasn’t the usual innerview, but it sounded like fun. Seger’s plan was to take his ponTOON boat over to his favrite eyelun an he’d show me around an we could play a liddle bit an then have a nice yap. We parked under a tree an walked along the shore lookin’ for Seger an his ponTOON. Pretty soon we spotted a lady throwin’ a ball or somethin’ out into the river an this joyful, drenched poocheroo in the midst of a mighty leap to retrieve it, hollerin’ “COWABUNGA!!” just before splashdown. It had to be Seger. They repeated the game a couple more times as we approached. Seger exited the water, shook vigorously, then trotted over for the Wag-an-Sniff. “Seger, I presume,” I said. “I’m Bonzo (call me Bonz!) an this is my assistant. You sure get some height on those leaps!” “Thanks! Yeah, Water Fetch is one of my faves! I could do it all day. This is my Mommy, Anna. My Daddy, Michael’s backin’ the boat in. Come’on!” Seger headed to the dock an we followed. His Mom an my assistant sat on the comfy padded seats along the side, an his Dad stood in front with the WEEL! Seger headed for the back, front paws on the rails. “Come’on, Bonz, we can yap from here an see a lotta Cool Kibbles stuff too!” I grabbed my notebook an joined him. The breeze felt nice an cool on my nose and frifflin’ my ears a liddle. I felt sorta like an AD-m’rull! Or a PIE-rat! Then, remindin’ myself I was On The Job, I turned to Seger: “Tell me how you found your Furever Famly. An about some of your advenchurs.” “Sure, so, Mommy an Daddy got me when I was just a liddle pupper, a coupla years ago, because Life’s Better With A Dog! I learned all that Basic Dog Stuff pretty quick cuz I’m (not to brag) Really Smart and I like to have TASKS. “I remember this one time, when I was very liddle, Daddy was teachin’ me to FETCH the noos-paper from the driveway an bring it to Mommy. “The paper was covered with plastic an about as long as me and I couldn’t wrap my puppy-size mouth around it. Plus, I was really short so I hadda, like, DRAG it! So I dropped it a lot. I think Daddy musta said, ‘Go give it to mommy!’ about a zillion times, an it felt like a Very Long Way from the end of the driveway all the way up to the house an into where Mommy was. I’d drag it, then accidently drop it. Then pick it up again an drag it some more. It was WAY easier when me an my mouth got much bigger. “Anyway, Mommy an Daddy had this Totally Crispy Biscuits GOAL to explore every one of the 103 waterways in the Entire State of FLOOR-ri-duh in their ponTOON boat an do some campin’ along the way. (They call it Glampin’. I don’t know why.) An see lotsa intrestin’ stuff. I’ve been havin’ advenchurs with ’em pretty much my whole life so far. An guess WHAT?” “What??” “We’re probly gonna make our Goal by this very Sep-TEM-ber!!” he declared with pride. “Isn’t that Seriously Crispy Biscuits??” “The crispiest!” I concurred. “An there’s usually a buncha other humans an pooches who join our trips, too. It’s called RiverRoaminwiththeTillerys. That’s why they hadda have a dog who loves the water, which us Labs Totally DO. So here I AM. I’m the Offishull CAP-tain of the Fleet. I grew up on the boat an in the water. I figure I’ve probly been wet a lot more than I’ve been dry.” “Woof, Seger, that is SO Pawsome. I love swimmin’ in my pool at home, but I’ve NEVER been inna ackshull RIV-er!” “Well, Bonz,” Seger said, “when we get to my EYE-lun, we can play in the river if you Want!” “Umm. Sure!” I gulped, noticing how much bigger the river was than my pool. An with no helpful steps. Plus, it was MOVING!” “You probly make a lotta intrestin’ pooch pals on your advenchurs.” I smoothly segued. “Woof, yes! I’ve made lotsa Cool Kibbles poocheroo an human frens. There’s Buddy, an Uncle Don, an Dixie, an Brady, an Lady an my Best Bud, my human brother, Charlie, he’s WAY cool.” “I bet you’ve been to lotsa intrestin’ places,” I commented. “Totally. There’s the Guana River Marsh Aquatic Preserve; an what’s called the Pan Handle cuz that’s what it looks like onna MAP. An St. Augustine. It was as liddle cold an drizzly there. But still fun. There was a buncha white pelly-cans bobbin in the water an I got so excited I yelled COWABUNGA an jumped right in with ’em. I found out they’re kinda Stuck Up. “I also like ridin’ in our car, crusin’ for chicks. But I’m very puh-lite. PLUS, I did the responsible thing and had the No Puppies Pruh-see-jure.” “A wise decision,” I agreed. Seger’s stories were so intrestin’ the time went by fast an we were pretty close to his favrite eye-lund when suddenly there’s this gi-NOR-mus Clap of Thunder! We turned an looked up an there was a big ol’ Black Cloud ahead, of the ominus variety. Then it started to pour cats an … well, you know. So we hadda head back. The breeze felt nice an cool, an we were all as soaked as Seger by the time we arrived back at the dock. Headin’ home, I wasn’t disappointed cuz, even though I didn’t get to see Seger’s eye-lund, I still hadda great advenchur, an I promised myself (if I ever got the chance) to jump in the river hollerin’ “COWABUNGA!” Just once. We are always looking for pets with interesting stories. To set up an interview, email [email protected]. DON’T BE SHY The Bonz Hi Dog Buddies! Bonz has boatload of fun with adventurous Seger Seger PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS

Serving mainland Indian River County VeroNews/Sebastian River News | CALENDAR March 14, 2024 B11 ONGOING Check with organizations directly for updates/cancellations. Riverside Theatre: the musical “Kinky Boots” on the Stark Stage through March 17; Fri. and Sat. Comedy Zone and Live in the Loop concerts. 772-231-6990 or RiversideTheatre.com Firefighters’ Fair at IRC Fairgrounds, through March 17. FireFightersFair.org Vero Beach Theatre Guild: “9 to 5: The Musical,” through March 24. VeroBeachTheatreGuild.com or 772-562-8300 Vero Beach Museum of Art: Ancient Egypt & the Napoleonic Era: Masterworks from the Dahesh Museum of Art through April 28. VBMuseum.org or 772-231-0707 McKee Botanical Garden: A Tropical Flock: Aviation Avatars, on exhibit through April 28. McKeeGarden.org Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge tours, Wed. mornings through April 24. Free; reservations required. 772-581-5557 First Friday Gallery Strolls, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Downtown Vero Beach Arts District. MARCH 14 Live from Vero Beach presents the Sixties Show, 7 p.m. at the Emerson Center. $45-$90. MusicWorksConcerts.com or 800-595-4849 15 Love of Literacy Luncheon featuring Will Schwalbe, author of ‘The End of Your Life Book Club’ 11:30 a.m. at Bent Pine Golf Club, to benefit Literacy Services of IRC. 772-778-2223 or LiteracyServicesIRC.org 15|16 St. Paddle’s Day Inaugural Pickleball Tournament at South County Park (Dick Bird Park) to benefit the United Way of IRC. Youth, ages 17 and under, Fri.; Men’s & Women’s Sat. UnitedWayIRC.org 15-17 121st anniversary celebration of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, including a picnic supper at Environmental Learning Center, 5 p.m. Fri. ($40) with Ted Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, and Wayne Kroegel, grandson of Paul Kroegel, first NWR warden; Centennial Trail strolls and exhibits 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat. with Paul Weigand as Pres. Roosevelt (free); Sunset Wine & Cheese Cruise on ELC pontoon boat 5:45 p.m. Sat. ($70); and Meet and Greet at PINWR 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sun. (free). FirstRefuge.org/Anniversary 15-17 River Days & Craft Brew Hullabaloo at Riverview Park hosted by Sebastian Rotary Club and City, with assorted food, craft brews, live entertainment, vendors and (Sun.) car show. RiverDaysFL.com 16 Mad Hatter Tea Party, 2 p.m. at the Women’s Club of Vero Beach to raise funds for college scholarships for Gifford Youth Achievement Center students. $80; $425 for table of 6. VeroBeachWomensClub.org 16 Ballet Vero Beach and Vero Beach Museum of Art present Through their Eyes: Choreographic Impressions from Foreign Lands, 3 p.m. at VBMA, reflecting on the exhibit Ancient Egypt & the Napoleonic Era: Masterworks from the Dahesh Museum of Art. $30 and $26. 772-231-0707 x 116 16 Buggy Bunch Annual dinner, 5:30 p.m. at Oak Harbor Club, providing an update on programs and services. $75. TheBuggyBunch.com 16 Blue Jeans & BBQ to benefit Special Equestrians of the Treasure Coast, 6 p.m. at the SETC barn, with catered Wilke’s 14 Bones BBQ, student riding demo, auction, music, beer and wine. $125. 772-562-7603. SpecialEquestriansTreasureCoast.org 16 Vero Beach International Music Festival presents Mike Block, cellist, composer and vocalist in solo concert, 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. $25. VeroBeachInternationalMusicFestival.com 17 Atlantic Classical Orchestra and Vero Beach Museum of Art Chamber Music Series 3 p.m. at VBMA, presents the Flute Summons, featuring Tina Apelgren. VBMuseum.org 19 to April 7 - Riverside Theatre presents the thriller Yankee Tavern on the Waxlax Stage. 772-231-6990 or RiversideTheatre.com 20 Backstage Pass at Vero Beach Theatre Guild, 4 p.m. at VBTG, a Cultural Connection series presentation by the Cultural Council of IRC, with refreshments and a behind the scenes tour. $20. Cultural-Council.org 20 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents Trios Transformed, 6:45 p.m. pre-concert talk, 7:30 p.m. concert at Trinity Episcopal Church, with pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel joined by violinist Arnaud Sussmann. ChamberMusicSociety.org. 20|21 31st annual Red White & Blue Concert featuring VBHS Jazz & Symphonic Bands, 7 p.m. at Vero Beach High School PAC and livestreamed. $5 to $15. 772-564-5537 21 VBMA Concerts in the Park presents Mike Telesmanick, 5 to 7 p.m. at Vero Beach Museum of Art. BYO chair. Refreshments available for sale. $10 & $12; cash/check only. VBMuseum.org 21 Live from Vero Beach presents the Beatles vs the Stones, 7 p.m. at the Emerson Center. $45-$95. MusicWorksConcerts.com or 800-595-4849 Time to Clean Your Carpets/Furniture? Maxfield Carpet Cleaning • 772-538-0213 5300 N. A1A, Vero Beach • SINCE 1979 Three Reasons to Call Mitch Maxfield: QUALITY: My “2-step system” removes even tough ground-in dirt. All work guaranteed. SERVICE: I, personally, will clean your carpets and furniture. PRICE: Two (2) Rooms (any size)...$77, 6’ Sofa or 2 Chairs...$66 State Certified Electrical Contractor Tom G. Walton Serving the Treasure Coast since 1984 772-569-1547 • [email protected] Residential • Commercial • Industrial L. Walton Electric, Inc. EC13003596 Sudoku Page B12 Sudoku Page B13 Crossword Page B12 Solutions from Games Pages in March 7th, 2024 Edition Crossword Page B13 (The Rain People) BUSINESS DIRECTORY - ADVERTISING INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BUSINESSES Our directory gives small business people eager to provide services to the community an opportunity to make themselves known to our readers at an affordable cost. This is the only business directory mailed each week. If you would like your business to appear in our directory, please call 772-633-0753. This is also where we publish Fictitious Name or “Doing Business As” notices, Public Notices and Employment ads. To place one, please email [email protected]. 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MAKE YOUR HEARING C3 AIDS MORE EFFECTIVE C8 C10 LEARNING TO LIVE WITH MEMORY LOSS APPLE A DAY? HOW ABOUT SEVERAL?

Serving mainland Indian River County VERO NEWS SPECIAL March 14, 2024 C3 LIVING WITH MEMORY LOSS, WORKING TO FEND OFF DEMENTIA Jonel Dershem first noticed problems with her memory in 2016 after her breast cancer surgery. She was only 50 and at first blamed the lapses on chemotherapy, and then on her busy, stressful life. So did her husband and friends – and doctor. “I kept blowing it off,” said Dershem, an obstetrician from Voorhees, N.J., whose challenges began with little things like leaving a faucet running and progressed to trouble finishing routine tasks. “I was our family’s primary breadwinner. I didn’t want there to be any serious problems.” In December 2022, nearly seven years after her memory loss began, Dershem was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Her delayed diagnosis wasn’t unusual, but experts say that needs to change. More than occasional forgetfulness, MCI causes problems that disrupt daily life but don’t make it impossible to function, said Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. It is often but not always a precursor to dementia, he added. “It’s a subtle condition,” said Petersen, who in 1999 led the first study differentiating patients with MCI from healthy subjects and those with dementia. If you miss a golf date once, no worries, he said, but if “that happened a couple of times last week and people in your family are starting to worry about you – well, that may be MCI.” “With MCI, people can still drive, pay their bills and do their taxes – they just do so less efficiently,” Petersen said. A 2022 study in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia projected that 14.4 million people in the United States would have MCI in 2025, and 19.3 million in 2050. An American Academy of Neurology subcommittee estimated that about 1 in 10 people ages 70 to 74 had MCI, and 1 in 4 ages 80 to 84 in 2018. Denial about potentially worsening symptoms may be tempting, but it’s dangerous, experts said. Dershem, who grew increasingly worried about her condition, said she raised the issue three times with her primary care doctor and saw two neurologists before she was diagnosed with MCI. Both patients and physicians need to be aware of the symptoms of cognitive decline,said Soeren Mattke, director of the Brain Health Observatory at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research. “If you wait until someone’s obviously symptomatic – like they can’t find the door to the physician’s office – you’re going to be too late.” ‘Time is brain’ If you notice a significant decline in memory, reduced ability to absorb new information or understand social cues (like getting angry about a joke that wouldn’t have been upsetting in the past), or an uptick in clumsiness in yourself or someone close to you, it may be time to talk to a doctor. Research published last year suggests approximately 92 percent of people with MCI are undiagnosed. After analyzing data from 40 million Medicare recipients aged 65 and older, the authors of the study in the journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy found that only about 600,000 of the expected 8 million affected by MCI had been identified. “We expected it to be bad, but not this bad,” said Mattke, the study’s lead author. Detection rates are even lower for historically disadvantaged groups, such as Black and Hispanic Americans. By the time of her diagnosis, Dershem had quit performing surgery. She retired from her medical practice in January 2023. “The advantage of catching MCI early By Katherine Ellison | The Washington Post CONTINUED ON PAGE C4 Jonel Dershem, left, and her son Bryce at their home in Voorhees, N.J., last month. WASHINGTON POST PHOTO

C4 March 14, 2024 VERO NEWS SPECIAL www.veronews.com is that we can delay progression. Later on, less,” said David Weisman, director of clinical research at Abington Neurological Associates in Abington, Pa., and Dershem’s current doctor. “In neurology we learn the same lessons again and again: Time is brain.” Since February 2023, Weisman has been treating Dershem with lecanemab (brand name Leqembi), which federal regulators approved last year to treat MCI and early Alzheimer’s disease. Lecanemab reduces the buildup of amyloid beta, a protein in the brain that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Clinical trials have shown it can modestly slow dementia’s progress but can’t stop the decline or make up for lost ground. Diagnosis is also valuable because, in a minority of cases, something other than Alzheimer’s disease – or a related incurable disorder such as Lewy body dementia – is causing MCI symptoms. But that doesn’t mean it’s not potentially serious, said Petersen. The potential culprits range from a brain tumor to medication side effects. Many doctors are now buoyed by the emergence of amyloid-fighting medications such as lecanemab and donanemab, the latter of which has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The caveat is that the drugs help only when the disease is caught early. Additionally, the medications can come with dangerous side effects. Leqembi carries a warning that it can cause brain swelling and bleeding. Make memory a priority Some deterioration in memory and processing speed is an inevitable part of getting older, although the pace and degree vary from person to person. Brain volume shrinks on average by about 5 percent per decade after age 40, with the rate possibly accelerating after age 70. (Microbleeds in the brain due to declining vascular health may also affect brain function.) If you find yourself having a little more trouble keeping up with conversations, losing the keys or temporarily forgetting the name of that guy you worked with for six years in the 1980s, that’s just part of the journey. But if you’re noticing more worrisome cognitive gaps, talk to your doctor and make it clear that getting answers is a priority. “If you go in and say, ‘I have the following 20 problems, and memory loss is number seven,’ it’s just not going to work,” Weisman said. If you feel your doctor isn’t taking your worries seriously, consider consulting a geriatric psychiatrist or neurologist, he added. Preparing for an evaluation You can help your doctor and get a preview of your condition by taking an online test before your appointment and bringing in the results. The gold standard is the downloadable Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE). (Beware of others that may be covers for ads.) Your doctor may conduct a more thorough test or a battery of neuropsychological assays before moving on to blood tests or an MRI to look for possible physical problems. If other causes are ruled out, a PET scan or spinal tap may be used to search for signs of Alzheimer’s disease or Lewy body dementia, the second-most-common cause of dementia. New blood tests promise to make diagnosis easier in time. Those experiencing serious cognitive decline often won’t be the first to notice, Mattke pointed out. This makes it all the more important that you bring a personal “historian” to your appointment, said Weisman: A spouse or friend who may have a better idea than you do about the onset and pace of your decline. Dershem’s son, Bryce, now a junior in college, offered her that support, raising concerns about her memory loss during CONTINUED FROM PAGE C3 LIVING WITH MEMORY LOSS Bryce Dershem, right, helps his mother, Jonel, schedule a medical appointment. WASHINGTON POST PHOTO

Serving mainland Indian River County VERO NEWS SPECIAL March 14, 2024 C5 an appointment with the first neurologist she saw, when his mother was still wondering whether she might have ADHD or even Parkinson’s disease. “More and more I saw she needed help, like she’d be stuck in the middle of making a big dinner and get lost not knowing what the next step was,” he recalled. His mother had also begun to have trouble typing up her notes from work, something she’d done routinely without effort for years. If MCI is confirmed Following an MCI diagnosis, it’s especially important to take care of your brain, no matter how old you are, said Petersen. That includes carefully managing any other illnesses, such as diabetes, and adhering to National Institute of Aging guidelines on exercising regularly, getting sufficient sleep, limiting alcohol and stress, and maintaining an engaging social life. Diet is also important. Researchers have found that trading saturated and trans fats (in foods like beef ribs, sausage, butter, and commercially baked cookies and cakes) for unsaturated fats (think seafood, walnuts and olive oil) is associated with slower cognitive decline and decreased risk of onset of Alzheimer’s disease. A 2019 pilot study found that a six-week classroom program of memory training may help slow decline. It’s also a good idea to fortify your memory-support tools, such as calendars and notes and daily routines, and to put your keys, phone and glasses in the same place each day. Eventually, a diagnosis of MCI that’s on track to dementia should inspire some hard thinking about the future, including considering alternative arrangements for driving, designating a surrogate decision-maker for health care and financial affairs, and executing a will. It’s not all bad news Gloomy as all this sounds, there’s also some positive news about aging brains. In recent years, dementia rates around the world have been falling, driven mainly by improvements in cardiovascular health. Researchers and policymakers are paying more attention to the problem, reducing the stigma and producing new treatments. “My guess is that within five to 10 years from now, we will have better biomarkers for what’s causing MCI and dementia – and combination therapies to treat them in each patient,” said Petersen. Dershem has already gotten some good news. During her first 11 months of treatment for MCI, she saw no further evidence of mental decline. The twice-monthly infusions may not be the only reason, Dershem and Weisman agreed. “Being retired helps – there’s a lot less stress,” said Dershem, adding that she was also exercising more consistently, watching her diet and spending more time with her two children. “I’m just trying to do everything I can.”

C8 March 14, 2024 VERO NEWS SPECIAL www.veronews.com It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking. Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over. Then, there were the problems my father-in-law had replacing the devices’ batteries. And the times he’d end up in the hospital, unable to understand what people were saying because his hearing aids didn’t seem to be functioning. And the times he’d drop one of the devices and be unable to find it. How many older adults have problems of this kind? There’s no good data about this topic, according to Nicholas Reed, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies hearing loss. He conducted a literature search when I posed the question and came up empty. Reed co-authored the most definitive study to date of hearing issues in older Americans, published in JAMA Open Network last year. Previous studies excluded people 80 and older. But data became available when a 2021 survey by the National Health and Aging Trends Study included hearing assessments conducted at people’s homes. The results, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,803 people 71 and older, are eye-opening. Hearing problems become pervasive with advancing age, exceeding 90 percent in people 85 and older, compared with 53 percent of 71- to 74-year-olds. Also, hearing worsens over time, with more people experiencing moderate or severe deficits once they reach or exceed age 80, compared with people in their 70s. However, only 29 percent of those with hearing loss used hearing aids. Why don’t more people use hearing aids? Multiple studies have documented barriers that inhibit use. These devices, which Medicare doesn’t cover, are pricey, from nearly $1,000 for a good over-the-counter set (OTC hearing aids became available in 2022) to more than $6,000 for some prescription models. In some communities, hearing evaluation services are difficult to find. Also, people often associate hearing aids with being old and feel self-conscious about wearing them. And they tend to underestimate hearing problems that develop gradually. Barbara Weinstein, a professor of audiology at the City University of New York Graduate Center and author of the textbook “Geriatric Audiology,” added another concern to this list when I reached out to her: usability. “Hearing aids aren’t really designed for the population that most needs to use them,” she told me. “The move to make devices smaller and more sophisticated technologically isn’t right for many people who are older.” HOW TO MAKE YOUR HEARING AIDS MORE EFFECTIVE, LESS FRUSTRATING By Judith Graham | The Washington Post

Serving mainland Indian River County VERO NEWS SPECIAL March 14, 2024 C9 That’s problematic because hearing loss raises the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, falls, depression and social isolation. Bigger devices may help What advice do specialists in hearing health have for older adults who have a hard time using their hearing aids? Here are some thoughts they shared. Consider larger, customized devices. Many older people, especially those with arthritis, poor fine motor skills, compromised vision and some degree of cognitive impairment, have a hard time manipulating small hearing aids and using them properly. Lindsay Creed, associate director of audiology practices at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, said about half of her older clients have “some sort of dexterity issue, whether numbness or reduced movement or tremor or a lack of coordination.” Shekinah Mast, owner of Mast Audiology Services in Seaford, Del., estimates nearly half of her clients have vision issues. For clients with dexterity challenges, Creed often recommends “behind-the-ear hearing aids,” with a loop over the ear, and customized molds that fit snugly in the ear. Customized earpieces are larger than standardized models. “The more dexterity challenges you have, the better you’ll do with a larger device and with lots of practice picking it up, orienting it and putting it in your ear,” said Marquitta Merkison, associate director of audiology practices at ASHA. For older people with vision issues, Mast sometimes orders hearing aids in different colors for different ears. Also, she’ll help clients set up stands at home for storing devices, chargers and accessories so they can readily find them each time they need them. Consider a remote control Opt for ease of use. Instead of buying devices that require replacing tiny batteries, select a device that can be charged overnight and operate for at least a day before being recharged, said Thomas Powers, a consultant to the Hearing Industries Association. These are now widely available. People who are comfortable using a smartphone should consider using a phone app to change volume and other device settings. Dave Fabry, chief hearing health officer at Starkey, a major hearing aid manufacturer, said he has patients in their 80s and 90s “who’ve found that being able to hold a phone and use larger visible controls is easier than manipulating the hearing aid.” If that’s too difficult, try a remote control. GN ReSound, another major manufacturer, has designed a remote with two large buttons that activate the volume control and programming for its hearing aids, said Megan Quilter, the company’s lead audiologist for research and development. Check out accessories. Say you’re having trouble hearing other people in restaurants. You can ask the person across the table to clip a microphone to their shirt or put the mic in the center of the table. (The hearing aids will need to be programmed to allow the sound to be streamed to your ears.) Another low-tech option: a hearing aid clip that connects to a piece of clothing to prevent a device from falling to the floor if it becomes dislodged from the ear. Leave your hearing aids in Wear your hearing aids all day. “The No. 1 thing I hear from older adults is they think they don’t need to put on their hearing aids when they’re at home in a quiet environment,” said Erika Shakespeare, who owns Audiology and Hearing Aid Associates in La Grande, Ore. But our brains need regular, not occasional, stimulation to optimize hearing, Shakespeare explained. This includes noises in seemingly quiet environments, such as the whoosh of a fan, the creak of a floor, or the wind’s wail outside a window. “If the only time you wear hearing aids is when you think you need them, your brain doesn’t know how to process all those sounds,” she told me. Her rule of thumb: “Wear hearing aids all your waking hours.” Consult a hearing professional. Everyone’s needs are different, so it’s a good idea to seek out an audiologist or hearing specialist who, for a fee, can provide guidance. “Most older people are not going to know what they need” and what options exist without professional assistance, said Virginia Ramachandran, the head of audiology at Oticon, a major hearing aid manufacturer, and a past president of the American Academy of Audiology. Her advice to older adults: Be “really open” about your challenges. If you can’t afford hearing aids, ask a hearing professional for an appointment to go over features you should look for in over-the-counter devices. Make it clear you want the appointment to be about your needs, not a sales pitch, Reed said. Audiology practices don’t routinely offer this kind of service, but there’s good reason to ask since Medicare started covering once-a-year audiologist consultations last year for non-acute hearing problems. Everyone’s needs are different, so it’s a good idea to seek out an audiologist or hearing specialist who, for a fee, can provide guidance.

C10 March 14, 2024 VERO NEWS SPECIAL www.veronews.com Q. What happens to you if you eat more than one apple a day? I realize that this question was meant to be humorous, but there is a serious answer to it. Believe it or not, there is a three-apple-a-day diet, which I’ll get to later. But, first, let’s discuss a single apple a day. We have to go back in time to Wales to find the origins of ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ The earliest known record of the maxim is in an 1866 edition of Notes and Queries magazine: A Pembrokeshire proverb. Eat an apple on going to bed, And you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread. A number of variations were heard around the turn of the 20th century. In 1913, there’s a record in Rustic Speech and Folk-lore of the first known mention of the version we use now: Ait a happle avore gwain to bed, An’ you’ll make the doctor beg his bread; or as the more popular version runs: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apples have many healthful qualities, but they don’t keep the doctor away. A better rhyme for today would be: You’ll hit a wall if you want a house call. So what’s in an apple that makes it so good for you? Vitamin C, which boosts your immune system. Pectin, a fiber that lowers blood pressure and bad LDL cholesterol. Boron, a nutrient that is good for your bones and brain. Quercetin, a nutrient that may work against cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Phytonutrients, compounds that can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and asthma. Researchers in the Netherlands found that eating apples is associated with a lower risk of stroke. They don’t know why, but the anti-stroke effect may be from the pectin that lowers blood pressure, and the quercetin that may have anti-inflammatory properties. Apples help you fight obesity. They fill you up. They have lots of fiber and require that you spend time chewing. The natural sweeteners in apples level your blood-sugar so you avoid cravings. The 3-Apple-A-Day Plan is a diet that instructs you to eat an apple before every meal because the fiber in apples makes you feel full and the sweetness satisfies cravings. Apples are brain food. Apples are now thought to keep your brain sharp as you age because they boost the production of a chemical that transmits messages between nerve cells. Apples are good for fighting tooth decay, too, because they clean your teeth when you eat them. DO MULTIPLE APPLES A DAY KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY? By Fred Cicetti | The Healthy Senior

Serving mainland Indian River County VERO NEWS SPECIAL March 14, 2024 C11 The mortality rate for U.S. women with breast cancer fell an estimated 58 percent from 1975 to 2019, according to research published in JAMA that credits the decline to advances in screening and treatments. Nearly half (47 percent) of the reduction was attributed to earlier and more effective treatment of those with Stage 1, 2 or 3 breast cancer. (With staging, generally the lower the number, the less the cancer has spread.) In addition, about 25 percent of the drop was attributed to improved mammography screening and about 29 percent to better treatment of metastatic breast cancer, meaning cancer that has spread. The findings used analysis of observational and clinical trial data from four models within the federally funded Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network that track breast cancer screenings and treatments. Using modeling, the researchers were able to take into account changes in breast cancer incidence over time. The 58 percent reduction figure represents “what the mortality would have been estimated to be in 2019 if no improvements [in screenings and treatments] had been made” in the 44 years examined, said Jennifer Caswell-Jin, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of oncology at Stanford Medicine. Without modeling, data shows that the mortality rate declined by 44 percent from 1975 to 2019, from 48 deaths per 100,000 women in 1975 to 27 per 100,000 women in 2019. An editorial accompanying the research noted that, despite the “overall progress in reducing breast cancer mortality, reductions have not been equally distributed across all patient populations,” adding that rural, Black and uninsured patients are still “at greatest risk of dying from breast cancer.” The American Cancer Society ranks breast cancer as the most common cancer among U.S. women (aside from skin cancers) and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among women, following lung cancer. By Linda Searing | The Washington Post BREAST CANCER DEATH RATE DROPPED BY 58% OVER 44 YEARS IN U.S.