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FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 1 "Very, very pleased, the extra bit of personal touch was so appreciated." -Joanne J. "Very, very pleased, the extra bit of personal touch was so appreciated." -Joanne J. Visit us at 3016 75th St. Kenosha SR120122 Volume 21 - #6 March 23, 2023 ARE BANKS, AND YOUR MONEY, SAFE? FIVE QUESTIONS

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F d f I b t r s m m B w i o a Y s O t i m r 2 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 Cover photos credit: Waynes: Mike Wallace & Chad Greenway; Gordon: UPI Smart Reader is published bi-weekly by Carmichael Communications Editor & Publisher/Frank J. Carmichael • Assistant to the Publisher/Reanna Stockdale • Sales/Kim Carmichael, Donny Stancato Editorial Manager/Jason Hedman • Ad Design & Layout/Glen Kelly, Kristin Monticelli • Reception/Sarah Coleman Carmichael Communications 1420 63rd Street, Kenosha, WI 53143 March 23, 2023 - Volume 21 Number 6 262-564-8800 • 1-800-568-6623 • www.hap2it.com The failure of two U.S. banks within the past week does not constitute a banking crisis. Instead, it’s a worrying spark of fear that has been spreading. Consumers wonder whether their money is safe. Some small businesses, especially tech startups, are scrambling to find new banks that can meet their needs such as making payroll. How far the problem spreads will depend on the trajectory of the economy as well as on consumers’ confidence in their banks. For clues, watch the stock market, analysts say. If bank stocks fall further, that could signal trouble ahead for the economy. What happened? Last Wednesday, Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, California, announced it had sold some of its assets at a loss and would sell new shares of itself to boost reserves. That triggered SVB customers to begin pulling out their money, causing a run on the bank. By Friday, regulators had taken over the bank. The collapse of SVB panicked depositors of New York-based Signature Bank, who began withdrawing their money Friday. By Sunday, regulators had taken it over as well. These were the second- and thirdlargest bank failures in U.S. history, topped only by the 2008 collapse of Washington Mutual in the financial crisis. Both banks were unusual in that they had concentrations of customers in struggling industries: tech startups in the case of SVB; and holders of digital money, known as cryptocurrencies, in the case of Signature. How close are we to a banking crisis? It depends on what lens you’re looking through: history or today’s banking structure. One of the lessons of history is that nations don’t need to see a full-blown panic – such as runs on numerous banks à la 1930s – to experience a banking crisis. A 2020 study of banking debacles in 46 countries going back to 1870 found that a 30% average decline in the stock prices of a nation’s major banks typically led to a recession three years later and a sizable decline in overall lending. Through Monday, the S&P Banks Select Industry Index had fallen nearly 23% this month. William Isaac, former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), told Politico he expects more banks to fail. The flip side of that dire outlook is that the banks that might fail this time are likely too small to bring down the banking system. The biggest U.S. banks – those considered “too big to fail” – look far stronger financially than they did in 2008, when the financial crisis forced the federal government to bail out many of them. This time, while aiding depositors, regulators did not bail out SVB or Signature, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department reportedly are investigating SVB. What should you do? If you’re an average bank customer, relax. At any FDIC-insured institution (nearly all banks) your deposits are guaranteed for up to $250,000 (that’s $500,000 for joint accounts). Those totals apply whether money is in savings, checking, or certificates of deposit. If you have more than that at any one bank, spread it around to other insured financial institutions. If you’re a small-business owner, who does keep more than $250,000 at a single bank, diversify. For investors, the outlook is more uncertain. Investment risk has gone up as a result of the two bank failures, but whether it has peaked is unknown. Should regulators have foreseen the problems? Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Still, many observers say regulators missed the boat, especially with SVB. They should have seen that the bank’s assets were too concentrated in U.S. government bonds. While those bonds were rock solid in an accounting sense, they were losing value in the marketplace because they were bought before the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates. The value of old bonds always goes down when interest rates rise because investors prefer buying new bonds that earn a higher rate. As onetime chief economist of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Charles Calomiris says he urged regulators to consider the market value of a bank’s assets, not just the accounting value. But “it’s so contrary to their culture that they just don’t do it,” he says. What happens now? Time will tell whether regulators have calmed depositors to the point that there will be no more bank runs in the coming months. Instead of bailing out the banks, regulators rescued their depositors. That itself was a controversial move, but one that many economists saw as necessary under the circumstances to stem a potential spread of fear about the safety of banks. Big depositors at both banks were relieved. “Folks would have certainly appreciated maybe a little bit earlier reassurances” from the government, says Ruben Izmailyan, co-founder and CEO of Quiltt Inc., a Dallasbased fintech firm that had big deposits at SVB. But had regulators and the Biden administration not acted, hundreds of tech startups might have been at risk. Some financial experts worry about the precedent set by bailing out all depositors at a bank, rather than just those with $250,000 or less in their accounts. Regulators will be hard-pressed to deny equal protection to big depositors the next time a bank fails, even though it could be very expensive for the FDIC. And Mr. Calomiris, now a Columbia Business School professor, is critical of the Biden administration’s new lending program for other banks potentially facing runs by depositors. “It can’t possibly work,” he says, if regulators base those loans on the par value, rather than on the market value, of government bonds that the banks hold. The plan calls for institutions to repay those loans in a year, when, if anything, the bonds will likely be worth even less. The Fed has its own conundrum when its ratesetting committee meets next week. Should it raise interest rates and continue its aggressive fight against inflation? Or is it wiser to pause, given the jittery state of investors? Year-over-year inflation rose at a slower rate last month than at any time since September 2021. But at 6%, it remains stubbornly high. By Laurent Belise Are banks – and your money – safe? Five questions Customers line up outside the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters, prior to it opening in Santa Clara, California on March 13th Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the American Bankers Association on Tuesday that the government is prepared to protect all depositors if a bank fails as it did following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York. Yellen, addressing the association's summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning, said that the U.S. financial system is on solid footing. Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York failed within days of each other, sending shockwaves through the market. "The situation demanded a swift response," Yellen said of the bank failures and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepping in to guarantee all depositors regardless of amount. "In the days that followed, the federal government delivered just that: decisive and forceful actions to strengthen public confidence in the U.S. banking system and protect the American economy. "Let me be clear: the government's recent actions have demonstrated our resolute commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings and the banking system remain safe." Yellen said the government took action recognizing that the banks, regardless of size, play a critical role in keeping the entire system balanced. "Large banks play an important role in our economy, but so do smalland mid-sized banks," Yellen said. "These banks are heavily engaged in traditional banking services that provide vital credit and financial support to families and small businesses. They also increase competition in the banking sector, and often have specialized knowledge and expertise in the communities they invest in." Yellen said the action government took to strengthen public confidence in the banking system helped to avoid the kind of panic that could have caused more depositors to remove their money. "The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks," Yellen said. "Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader U.S. banking system. And similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer Janet Yellen reassures bankers during speech in front of lobbying group Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen story continues on next page

FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 3 Yellen continued from page 2 Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed with enormous speed -- so quickly that they could be textbook cases of classic bank runs, in which too many depositors withdraw their funds from a bank at the same time. The failures at SVB and Signature were two of the three biggest in U.S. banking history, following the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008. How could this happen when the banking industry has been sitting on record levels of excess reserves -- or the amount of cash held beyond what regulators require? While the most common type of risk faced by a commercial bank is a jump in loan defaults -- known as credit risk -- that's not what is happening here. As an economist who has expertise in banking, I believe it boils down to two other big risks every lender faces: interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Interest rate risk A bank faces interest rate risk when the rates increase rapidly within a shorter period. That's exactly what has happened in the United States since March 2022. The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising rates -- 4.5 percentage points so far -- in a bid to tame soaring inflation. As a result, the yield on debt has jumped at a commensurate rate. The yield on one-year U.S. government Treasury notes hit a 17-year high of 5.25% in March 2023, up from less than 0.5% at the beginning of 2022. Yields on 30-year Treasurys have climbed almost 2 percentage points. As yields on a security go up, its price goes down. And so such a rapid rise in rates in so short a time caused the market value of previously issued debt -- whether corporate bonds or government Treasury bills -- to plunge, especially for longer-dated debt. For example, a 2 percentage point gain in a 30-year bond's yield can cause its market value to plunge by around 32%. SVB, as Silicon Valley Bank is known, had a massive share of its assets -- 55% -- invested in fixed-income securities, such as U.S. government bonds. Of course, interest rate risk leading to a drop in market value of a security is not a huge problem as long as the owner can hold onto it until maturity, at which point it can collect its original face value without realizing any loss. The unrealized loss stays hidden on the bank's balance sheet and disappears over time. But if the owner has to sell the security before its maturity at a time when the market value is lower than face value, the unrealized loss becomes an actual loss. That's exactly what SVB had to do earlier this year as its customers, dealing with their own cash shortfalls, began withdrawing their deposits - - while even higher interest rates were expected. This bring us to liquidity risk. Liquidity risk Liquidity risk is the risk that a bank won't be able to meet its obligations when they come due without incurring losses. For example, if you spend $150,000 of your savings to buy a house and down the road you need some or all of that money to deal with another emergency, you're experiencing a consequence of liquidity risk. A large chunk of your money is now tied up in the house, which is not easily exchangeable for cash. Customers of SVB were withdrawing their deposits beyond what it could pay using its cash reserves, and so to help meet its obligations the bank decided to sell $21 billion of its securities portfolio at a loss of $1.8 billion. The drain on equity capital led the lender to try to raise over $2 billion in new capital. The call to raise equity sent shockwaves to SVB's customers, who were losing confidence in the bank and rushed to withdraw cash. A bank run like this can cause even a healthy bank to go bankrupt in a matter days, especially now in the digital age. In part this is because many of SVB's customers had deposits well above the $250,000 insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- and so they knew their money might not be safe if the bank were to fail. Roughly 88% of deposits at SVB were uninsured. Signature faced a similar problem, as SVB's collapse prompted many of its customers to withdraw their deposits out of a similar concern over liquidity risk. About 90% of its deposits were uninsured. Systemic risk? All banks face interest rate risk today on some of their holdings because of the Fed's rate-hiking campaign. This has resulted in $620 billion in unrealized losses on bank balance sheets as of December. But most banks are unlikely to have significant liquidity risk. While SVB and Signature were complying with regulatory requirements, the composition of their assets was not in line with industry averages. Signature had just over 5% of its assets in cash and SVB had 7%, compared with the industry average of 13%. In addition, SVB's 55% of assets in fixed-income securities compares with the industry average of 24%. The U.S. government's decision to backstop all deposits of SVB and Signature regardless of their size should make it less likely that banks with less cash and more securities on their books will face a liquidity shortfall because of massive withdrawals driven by sudden panic. However, with over $1 trillion of bank deposits currently uninsured, I believe that the banking crisis is far from over.The Conversation. By Vidhura S. Tennekoon Interest rate, liquidity risk caused SVB, Signature Bank to fail so fast deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion." "I believe that our actions reduced the risk of further bank failures that would have imposed losses on the Deposit Insurance Fund, which is paid for through fees on insured banks." Yellen said 11 banks announced $30 billion in deposits into troubled First Republic Bank last week, adding that it represented "a vote of confidence" in our banking system. "We are continuing to monitor conditions closely," Yellen said. "My team and I have been in close communication with many of you, in addition to federal and state regulators, other market participants, and international counterparts." Yellen said they are trying to find out why Silicon Valley Bank, which catered to tech startups, and Signature Bank, which was devoted to cryptocurrencies failed but it was important to find those answers. "While we don't yet have all the details about the collapse of the two banks, we do know that the recent developments are very different than those of the Global Financial Crisis," Yellen said. "Back then, many financial institutions came under stress due to their holdings of subprime assets." "We do not see that situation in the banking system today. Our financial system is also significantly stronger than it was 15 years ago. This is in large part due to post-crisis reforms that provided stronger capital standards, among other important improvements." Yellen said the Treasury Department remains committed to making sure depositors will be protected during the current review of the banking system. By Clyde Hughes 0 e n s, a e n r - n e n s d s y n d d n t n o c g e d e r e g of r y S. r d r e Kenosha Funeral Services and Crematory Prepay for your funeral now and the price will be guaranteed. 8226 Sheridan Rd. 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4 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F I t f w w r sa w w ru th In C IP cli du Re m Sw "fe op gr an cli av an wi an pe wi Ho sta Re ur am th sti su aft pla mo Ce gr ga ha be ne ex ch th an Trump weakening? Not judging by his Iowa swing Braving the cold March Iowa wind, Patty Havill stands amid a snaking line of red MAGA hats and flagthemed costumes, waiting to see the one man she believes can still save America from all its problems. Other Republican presidential hopefuls have been through town recently – including, on Friday, hotticket Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – but Ms. Havill is single-minded in her devotion. For her, it’s Donald Trump or no one. “Our country is in chaos. We need him to straighten it out,” says the retired nurse. “Trump is the only one.” Since launching his third bid for the White House some four months ago, Donald Trump’s campaign has, from the outside, frequently seemed fizzling and unfocused. The former president is juggling distractions in the form of mounting legal troubles and the very real possibility of a criminal indictment. After many of his hand-picked candidates lost in the 2022 midterms, his grip on the GOP was widely proclaimed to be weakening – with even his former vice president apparently gearing up to take him on. But those factors belie a set of strengths that are in many ways now becoming evident. As the contours of the 2024 primary battle start to come into focus, Mr. Trump is already benefitting from some of the same circumstances that helped him in 2016. A large, unwieldy Republican field that divides the anti-Trump vote. Opponents too afraid to attack him directly. Above all, a set of diehard fans like Ms. Havill, who are providing him with a solid, unshakeable floor of support. At the same time, it’s becoming clear Mr. Trump is bringing an entirely different level of political and professional experience to this primary process than in 2016. He’s wooing key officials for endorsements and behind-the-scenes support. And he’s wasting no time building an on-theground apparatus with experienced hands in early voting states like Iowa that could give him a significant edge over his GOP rivals – some of whom, like Governor DeSantis, have not even formally entered the race. “You’d be foolish to underestimate Donald Trump,” says Luke Martz, a Republican strategist based in Iowa. Some Trump supporters began lining up more than 10 hours in advance of Monday’s event in Davenport, a city in eastern Iowa on the Mississippi River, where Illinois-born Ronald Reagan began his career as a radio sportscaster in the 1930s. “This isn’t a rally. We’ll be back for a rally soon,” Mr. Trump said, midway through his two-hour speech at a packed theater, in his first visit to the state where the 2024 road to the White House begins for Republicans. As he spoke, volunteers collected names, emails, and addresses from the audience and passed out voter registration forms. “I said, ‘Why aren’t we doing one at an airport where we can have 50,000 people?’ They said, ‘Sir, it’s too cold.’ That was a good call,” he said, cracking a smile. “Because it’s very cold outside.” Earlier, Mr. Trump made a brief unannounced stop at a local restaurant where he posed for photos with diners, the kind of retail politicking that Iowans have come to expect. At the theater, he took questions at the end from the audience after joking that the evening should end on a high note, like a concert that ends with a great encore. In 2016, Mr. Trump famously finished second in the Iowa caucuses behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, after a campaign that relied on celebrity and media exposure but fell short on organization. (Mr. Trump conceded but then claimed Senator Cruz “stole” the election.) This time, the former president seems determined not to make the same mistake. Mr. Trump has hired Marshall Moreau, who helped GOP candidate Brenna Bird defeat a 10- term Democratic attorney general in November, to lead his Iowa efforts. Other hires include state lawmaker Bobby Kaufmann, who appeared on stage with the former president in Davenport. His father, Jeff Kaufmann, a Trump ally, is the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, leading some Republicans to grumble about a potential conflict of interest in a party-run caucus. Also on Team Trump: Eric Branstad, whose father Terry Branstad is a popular former Iowa governor who served as Mr. Trump’s ambassador to China. Eric Branstad helped run Mr. Trump’s state campaigns in 2016 and 2020 and is a senior advisor this time. “Having a strong organizational base in Iowa is really important,” says Doug Gross, a Republican activist here who has been critical of the former president. To win here, campaigns need to be able to convert pledges of support into actual votes on the one night in January – typically a dark, frigid night – that matters. Mr. Trump’s core of committed supporters, even if they’re a minority, are an enormous asset in a caucus, notes Mr. Gross. “You’ve got to be a pretty committed partisan to go to a caucus and get your voice heard,” he says. “That gives [Mr. Trump] a natural advantage.” But having a campaign that understands the complicated mechanics and rules of caucuses, and can maneuver strategically, can compound that advantage dramatically. Other Republicans note that the pressure will be on Mr. Trump to win – and to win convincingly – in Iowa, unlike in 2016 when his campaign benefitted from low expectations. Indeed, even a narrow Trump win could be seen as a disappointment, giving momentum to a secondplace finisher. “There’s a big hole for someone to come through,” says David Kochel, an Iowabased strategist and former advisor to Mitt Romney who helped lead Jeb Bush’s Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Monday, March 13, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. see TRUMP on page 6 OUT NOW Inside this issue we feature: Vol. 16 Issue 1 Winter Into Spring 2023 Em’s Dance Center The Coffee Pot Mike Bjorns Clothing Any Time Fitness Donna’s GymNastics Captain Mike’s Pick up a copy or read it online at visitkenosha.com or godowntownkenosha.com 021623 April 7th & 8th at 8PM at the 5125 6th Ave. KENOSHA You Don’t Want To Miss... MIKE TOOMEY 032323 Get your advance tickets at Hap2it.com or stop in at 1420 63rd St. Kenosha between 10am - 4pm Mon. - Fri. Call for more information 262-564-8800

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 IPCC: Chances to save planet from global warming's worst are running out There is still a chance to save the planet from the worst effects of global warming but time is rapidly running out, scientists from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The IPPC released its sixth climate assessment report, dubbed the Synthesis Report, after days of meetings in Interlaken, Switzerland. The panel said multiple "feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change" are available. "Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits," IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee said in a statement. "This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all." The IPCC said five years after its call to keep the planet from warming no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the challenge is even greater to curb greenhouse gas emissions, noting what has been done so far has been insufficient. Immediate action is needed to address the existing impacts of climate change, which are "hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems especially hard," the panel said. "Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being disproportionately affected," said Aditi Mukherji, one of the report's authors. "Almost half of the world's population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions." The panel said the continued burning of fossil fuels, along with the "unequal and unsustainable" use of energy and land has led to global warming of 1.1 degrees above pre-industrial levels. "This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world," the panel said in a statement. "Every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards. More intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall and other weather extremes further increase risks for human health and ecosystems." Guterres said during a press conference that the new report is a "clarion call" to fast-track large-scale climate efforts in every country and in the near future and beyond. By Clyde Hughes NOAA spring report says drought conditions will improve, thanks to recent floods, snow A winter of extreme weather, including deadly flooding and historically heavy snow, will pull much of California out of drought for the first time in almost three years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects in its Spring Outlook that the most intense drought conditions across most of the United States will shrink to their lowest levels since 2020. Drought conditions will continue to improve in the Southwest and Midwest through the spring, according to the NOAA, but parts of the high plains will continue to experience drought. As of Tuesday, the high plains are the most impacted by extreme drought, particularly in Kansas. The majority of the continental United States west of the Mississippi is experiencing drought while to the east it is largely contained to Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico and small portions along the East Coast. "Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes, as illustrated by NOAA's observations and data that inform this seasonal outlook," Rick Spinrad, NOAA administrator, said in a statement. California continues to recover from multiple weather phenomena, including more than 10 atmospheric rivers throughout the winter. Mountainous northern California remains buried under feet of snow, with higher-altitude regions reporting up to a foot of heavy, wet snow in a 24- hour period, KCRA 3 in Sacramento reports. The spring is expected to bring flooding to the upper Mississippi River region, particularly from Minneapolis to St. Louis, due in part to melting snow. Ed Clark, NOAA's director of its National Weather Center, said in a statement that about 44% of the United States is at risk of flooding. "California's historic snowpack, coupled with spring rain, is heightening the potential for spring floods," Clark said. 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6 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F we Sp Th Se (M Ke tw fal sp FU Sp FU su Ke Gu ca ac re att inc dis ad Ke to To fri th th th La Co se Ev Pr Sid #K Lit M W sc co sto Pa se we Br pla ev Pa Au ev on at th th Br at Br W Jul An gr (w wi Co Ma N S b V 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump’s appearance in Iowa came on the heels of a hotly anticipated visit by his putative rival, Governor DeSantis. Mr. DeSantis held two events last Friday that were ostensibly to promote his new book but were widely seen as putting down a marker for 2024. He met Republican state lawmakers after his stop in Des Moines, where he was joined by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who also introduced Mr. Trump at his event. While early national polls often reflect little more than name recognition, the upward trajectory for Mr. DeSantis in states like Iowa seems clear. And his rise in popularity is coming at Mr. Trump’s expense, sharpening the rivalry between the two men, and setting the stage for a potentially drawn-out battle. An Iowa poll released Friday showed a softening in Mr. Trump’s support, with just 47% of Iowa Republicans saying they would “definitely” vote for him if he’s the GOP nominee, down significantly from 69% in June 2021 (another 27% would “probably” vote for him). The former president’s favorability rating among Iowa Republicans has also declined more than 10 points and is now at 80%, just slightly higher than Mr. DeSantis’ at 75%. (That said, 1 in 5 respondents said they didn’t yet know enough about Mr. DeSantis to assess him.) “There’s a subset that will be with President Trump no matter what,” says Brett Barker, GOP chairman in Story County. But “I think Iowans in general have an open mind.” At a recent event in Iowa for defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, former Gov. Branstad told the Monitor that he would remain neutral in 2024. (In 2016, he warned Iowans not to back Senator Cruz over the Texan’s opposition to ethanol subsidies.) But he expressed doubts about Mr. Trump’s chances this time because, he said, the former president has “too much baggage.” Judging by the responses from Mr. Trump’s supporters, social and cultural grievances will drive the race for the GOP nomination in 2024. The biggest and most sustained applause was for Mr. Trump’s calls to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports, stop the teaching of critical race theory in schools, and “break up” the federal Department of Education. Mr. Trump seemed to take note. “Look at the hand you get for that,” he said, after the crowd roared its approval. “Bigger than ‘we’re going to be energy independent,’ ” he said, referring to one of his regular applause lines. By contrast, Mr. Trump’s digs at Florida’s governor – “Ron DeSanctimonious” – received a more muted response. (Mr. DeSantis has so far resisted making direct attacks on the former president.) He said Mr. DeSantis had voted in Congress to cut farm subsidies, and to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits, both of which Mr. Trump said he would protect. The president expounded at length on his administration’s record of fighting trade wars with China, Mexico, and Europe, and standing up for farmers in Iowa, including ethanol producers. “I fought for Iowa ethanol like no president in history,” he said. Outside the theater, some attendees said they would support Mr. DeSantis as a presidential candidate, should he win the nomination instead of Mr. Trump. Others suggested the Florida governor, who is 44, ought to wait his turn. “I think DeSantis would make a good VP, but Florida needs him right now,” says Roy Nelson, a retiree from Iowa who had traveled from Nevada for the event. “He’s a young man. He has time. This will probably be Trump’s last shot.” By Simon Montlake It's well-established that American football players can suffer significant brain impacts as they age. Now, new research shows that elite European soccer players are also more likely than the average person to develop dementia. Men in the Swedish top soccer division between 1924 and 2019 were 1.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease than those in a control group. The study of more than 6,000 players found they had an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. They did not, however, have any increased risk for motor neuron disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease). And they had even lower risk of Parkinson's disease than a control group matched by age, sex and region. Unlike their outfield counterparts, goalkeepers did not have an increased risk of dementia. This supports the theory that heading the ball increases the risk, according to the report published Thursday in The Lancet Public Health. "Goalkeepers rarely head the ball, unlike outfield players, but are exposed to similar environments and lifestyles during their [soccer] careers and perhaps also after retirement," said Dr. Peter Ueda, an assistant professor at Karolinska Institute in Sweden. "It has been hypothesized that repetitive mild head trauma sustained through heading the ball is the reason [soccer] players are at increased risk, and it could be that the difference in neurodegenerative disease risk between these two types of players supports this theory," Ueda added in a journal news release. About 9% of the elite Swedish soccer players were diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease compared to 6% of the control group, the investigators found. Most participants were still alive when data collection ended, so the lifetime risk for both groups is likely to be higher. About 8% of the soccer players were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias compared to 5% of the control group, the researchers reported. An earlier study from Scotland suggested that soccer players were 3.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease. This prompted moves to reduce heading in younger players for some European soccer organizations. "While the risk increase in our study is slightly smaller than in the previous study from Scotland, it confirms that elite footballers have a greater risk of neurodegenerative disease later in life," Ueda noted. "As there are growing calls from within the sport for greater measures to protect brain health, our study adds to the limited evidence-base and can be used to guide decisions on how to manage these risks." Overall death rates during the study period were slightly lower among the elite soccer players compared to the control group, about 40% versus 42%. The lower death rate among soccer players indicates that their overall health was better than that of the general population, likely because they are physically fit from playing, said Dr. Björn Pasternak, a senior researcher at Karolinska Institute. "Physical activity is associated with a lower risk of dementia, so it could be hypothesized that the potential risks from head impacts are being somewhat offset by having good physical fitness," Pasternak said. "Good physical fitness may also be the reason behind the lower risk of Parkinson's disease." The study authors said they were not certain whether the findings could be generalized to players today. Most players in the study who were old enough to have developed one of these conditions played elite soccer during the mid20th century, not recently. Soccer has undergone changes since then that may affect the risk of neurodegenerative disease, such as switching from leather to synthetic balls. Leather balls soaked up water, making them heavier. Style of play, training and equipment have also changed. On the other hand, training and playing more intensely at younger ages, as is more common now, may increase risk. It's not certain whether the findings can be generalized to female elite players, amateur players or youth players. By Cara Nunez Trump continued from page 4 Elite soccer players have higher risk of dementia, study shows Media seemed to outnumber the supporters gathered in front of Trump Tower after former President Donald Trump urged supporters to protest his looming indictment

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 7 It’s always exciting when we roll out our new Spring/Summer FUN 101! This is a list of 101 Things to See & Do for $10 & Under (Many are FREE!). Visit Kenosha produces this list twice a year – for the fall/winter and spring/summer months. At VisitKenosha.com/ FUN101, you’ll find the Spring/Summer 2023 list. FUN 101 serves as a supplement to the Official Kenosha Area Visitors Guide. It’s part events calendar and part seasonal activity guide with some recreation spots, attractions, and landmarks included. Discover – and/or rediscover – what affordable adventures await in the Kenosha Area! Use the list to Be A Tourist In Your Own Town. Share the link with friends or family members that will be visiting you in the coming months. The FUN 101 categories this time are Life By The Lake, Free Outdoor Concerts (EIGHT concert series are listed!), An Eventful Time, Nature Break, Preserving History, Artsy Side, and More #KenoshaFun. Learn about a Little Free Art Gallery, a Miniature Statue of Liberty, a Wallace Fountain, and a sculpture that commemorates the second stop on the Winter Dance Party Tour – all in Kenosha! Two of the free concert series we list take place west of the Interstate. Bristol Woodstock takes place on Wednesday evenings at Bristol Woods Park from June 14 through August 16. On Thursday evenings is the new Rhythm on the Lake Concert Series at Old Settlers Park, June 15 through August 17. FUN 101 shares where the Kenosha County Dairy Breakfast will be on June 17: at Daniels Dairy Farm II in Brighton. Taste of Wisconsin WILL take place this year: July 27-29 at the lakefront. And we list what the free grandstand entertainment (with paid fair admission) will be at the Kenosha County Fair in August. Learn how Wilmot Flea Market’s season kicks off on April 23 at the Kenosha County Fairgrounds. May 13 is the day that both Kenosha HarborMarket and Kenosha Public Market move outdoors. Ever wonder about the homes and buildings that make up Kenosha’s historic districts? Take a guided tour with Kenosha History Center volunteers! Read in FUN 101 about the monthly Third Avenue and Library Park Historic District tour opportunities. Listed as #20 on FUN 101 is the Downtown Kenosha Small Business Bunny Hop, which is coming up quickly on April 1. This free activity is a way to visit and support Downtown Kenosha restaurants, shops, attractions, salons, and other businesses. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., visit as many of the participating businesses as you would like. Kids can collect an Easter egg filled with a treat. Adults can collect an Easter egg with a surprise special offer inside. Please be courteous so as many people as possible can participate; only take one egg per person at each venue you visit. Eggs are available while supplies last. Shop, dine, and explore as you go! Go to VisitKenosha.com/BunnyHo p for details. Whether you use FUN 101 as a resource when planning your summer “bucket” list, a scavenger hunt, or a staycation, take photos as you adventure through the Kenosha Area! Enter Visit Kenosha’s Picture Your Kenosha photo contest. Photos submitted may be used to promote the Kenosha Area as a fun and exciting place for out-oftown visitors. At the end of the year, all photos submitted during the calendar year will be judged. The individuals who submit the top photos will be awarded dinner for two at a local restaurant - and bragging rights! Go to VisitKenosha.com/Photos to enter the contest. Use our website VisitKenosha.com to find #KenoshaFun faster. Visit Kenosha has been Kenosha’s official travel resource since 1986. New Spring/ Summer FUN 101 by Meridith Jumisko, Visit Kenosha Meridith Jumisko is Public Relations Director at Visit Kenosha. Contact her at [email protected] a , . a a t y f , . , y r z FOR EVENT TICKETS VISIT HAP2IT.COM STOP IN 1420 63RD ST. M-F 10am-4pm OR CALL 1-262-564-8800 032323 Every Wednesday • 7pm This isn’t your Nana’s Bingo Game Fun Prizes...No Cover ROCK & ROLL S o Music BINGO FREE If It’s Not Live, You’re Not Living! f It’s Not Live, You’re Not Living! Comedy & Music Every Weekend Visit Hap2it.com For Newly Announced Acts! Comedy & Music Every Weekend Visit Hap2it.com For Newly Announced Acts! No Drink Minimum! 5125 6th Ave. Kenosha 125 6th Ave. Kenosha Friday & Saturday April 21st & 22nd 8:00 PM MARY MACK $18 In Advance $22 at Door Friday & Saturday March 24th & 25th 8:00 PM DAVID SCOTT MR. SHOWTIME $16 In Advance $19 at Door GRAHAM KAY Friday & Saturday April 14th & 15th 8:00 PM $16 In Advance $20 at Door Thursday April 20th 7:30 PM RICH GUZZI at the Comedian/Hypnotist $20 In Advance $24 at Door Wednesday April 26th 7:30 PM MICHAEL PALASCAK at the $20 In Advance $25 at Door COMING SOON: SAT., APRIL 29 RICK “ELVIS” SAUCEDO • FRI. & SAT., MAY 5 & 6 THEA VIDALE • SAT., MAY 13 THE HUNKS SAT., MAY 20 VINYL REMIX •MAY 26 & 27 MIKE BALL Friday & Saturday MIKE TOOMEY April 7th & 8th 8:00 PM $16 In Advance $19 at Door Friday & Saturday RALPHIE ROBERTS March 31st & April 1st 8:00 PM $14 In Advance $17 at Door In Residency 4/22, 5/20 Music March 25th PAT MCCURDY 7:30 PM Saturday $10 In Advance $13 at Door at the

8 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F Y Y C s y F a sp S th K C a W w p  W c n c h it c D p C E H o th k h e s at H A e u m u q T c re o Priority test: Can officials fight inflation and buoy banks? As banking turmoil ripples around the world, government officials in many nations are suddenly confronting a two-pronged problem: how to fight inflation with one hand while bolstering financial system stability with the other. These tasks are hard enough on their own. Added difficulty stems from the fact that typical solutions for them can work at crosspurposes. Raising interest rates to fight inflation can slam banks in some circumstances. Keeping rates low may calm financial institutions but fuel the fire of rising prices. That’s left regulators from Frankfurt to Washington facing a clash of values. Is one of these problems worse than another? Must they be fought separately? Can they be addressed together? To this point one thing seems clear: Central banks are reluctant to roll back anti-inflation measures, as prices haven’t been tamed as much as they would like. On Thursday the European Central Bank announced it was going ahead with a halfpoint interest rate increase. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, said the American banking system remains sound. Recent bank failures may have made it more difficult for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates, says Dave Schabes, a University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy expert on banking and finance. But currently the Fed seems determined to forge ahead. “I have found [Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell] and most other Fed board members very clear that rates may have to rise higher and longer than the market might like,” says Professor Schabes in an email. An uneasy equilibrium Last Thursday world financial markets seemed to have settled into an uneasy equilibrium. Investors appeared encouraged that Credit Suisse, a struggling Swiss bank whose outlook deteriorated earlier this week following the collapse of two U.S. banks, had secured a $50 billion lifeline from the Swiss National Bank. Also, big U.S. banks agreed on a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic, a smaller American institution that, like Credit Suisse, has been battered by a decline in investor confidence. Meanwhile, Secretary Yellen told senators that the U.S. depositor rescue plan, which permitted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to guarantee deposits at banks that collapsed in recent days beyond the $250,000 limit per customer, had stemmed fallout from the sudden shake-up in the banking system. No matter how strong government regulation is, a bank can face failure if it is subject to an “overwhelming run” on its deposits spurred by social media, Ms. Yellen said. Regulators stepped in following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to prevent other banks from facing similar runs. In Frankfurt, Germany, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde announced at a press conference that the bank was going ahead with a half-point increase in interest rates, despite some investor sentiment to delay the hike. Recent data on inflation has shown that prices are still climbing faster than regulator targets, said Ms. Lagarde. “Inflation in Europe is quite high. And it’s important for the ECB ... to be seen as a strong fighter of inflation,” says Jon Danielsson, director of the Systemic Risk Centre at the London School of Economics’ department of finance. If the bank had canceled the hike it might have signaled to the markets that the banking system is in worse trouble than it seems, says Dr. Danielsson. “The best way not to panic the markets is to go ahead with an interest rate increase that had already been expected by everybody,” he says. The bank unraveling, explained But raising interest rates can stress banks, particularly if they are not properly prepared. That is one of the reasons that Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New York were seized by U.S. financial regulators in recent days. Consider a notional bank that has grown very fast in recent years, as did SVB. It takes its flood of new depositor cash and invests a large percentage of it in long-term Treasury bonds – again, as was the case with SVB. Treasury bonds are the gold standard of investment, backed by the U.S. government. So, this notional bank would be gold itself, right? Maybe. However, until relatively recently the interest on long-term bonds has been very, very low. Since the pandemic, that’s changed. The Fed has quickly ratcheted up rates to try to cool the economy and thus cool inflation. That erodes the value of older long-term bonds, because newer bonds are offering higher rates of return. If the bank has a lot of them, and they have to sell them quickly to raise cash, they will start to lose money. They can be in trouble, fast. That’s a simplistic description of what happened to SVB. The addition was a core of herdlike, well-informed, wealthy tech and venture capital depositors. Some of them noticed that the bank had troublesome Treasury bond investments. They took their money out, and told others about the problem. Suddenly the bank had a run – and had to sell more Treasury bonds, incurring more losses, to raise cash to pay depositors. SVB was clearly an outlier. But there might be other financial institutions with similar problems, says Dr. Danielsson. “There are quite possibly a lot of other banks, not quite as extreme, but also vulnerable to increasing interest rates ... on both sides of the Atlantic, even more in Europe,” he says. Probably not another 2008 crisis This does not mean the United States and the world are necessarily headed toward another 2008 financial crisis, or anything like it. The largest U.S. and European banks are much better capitalized than they were going into 2008, says Professor Schabes. “The issue that will likely be revisited will be smaller banks’ capital and risk management requirements,” he says. “It seems that at least in the case of SVB, inadequate interest rate risk management was part of the problem.” In the real world banks use many tools to spread the risk of bond holdings, from “laddering” by mixing in Treasury bills of different maturity dates, to diversifying into other types of assets entirely. Some experts blame the Federal Reserve for not noticing the risk of banks like SVB that were heavily invested in Treasury bonds when interest rates began to rise. Dror Goldberg, an expert in monetary economics and author of “Easy Money: American Puritans and the Invention of Modern Currency,” says the turmoil of the past week could, and perhaps should, pave the way for more government “stress tests” for banks in the future. “These are really critical days,” he says, which is why the Fed, FDIC, and Treasury are doing all they can to reassure the population. Mr. Goldberg believes that the U.S. should avoid the understandable temptation to give up the fight against inflation. Some other experts believe that framing the current moment as a two-horned dilemma between fighting inflation and stabilizing the financial sector is misleading. “The Fed should not be doing these [interest] rate hikes anyway,” says Robert C. Hockett, law professor at Cornell Law School focused on financial and monetary law. That is because what the U.S. is dealing with now, says Mr. Hockett, is a shortfall of production since the pandemic, including supply chain bottlenecks, and profits that are rising faster than inflation. Those issues require other types of responses to incentivize production and prevent price-gouging, he says. He also supports raising the current $250,000 limit on federal deposit insurance – one of the few banking reform proposals currently drawing some bipartisan support in Congress. The reality, though, is that interest rate hikes remain the go-to tool of government regulators around the world to battle the resilient inflation problem. In the U.S. the Fed remains committed to raising rates and promoting financial institution stability simultaneously. “The Fed is going to try to treat the two threats in parallel. It’s a titanic task,” says Santiago Bulat, economics professor at the University of Buenos Aires. By Peter Grier, Dominique Soguel, & Erika Page European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks during a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany, March 16, 2023, after a meeting of the ECB's governing council. She announced that the bank was going ahead with a half-point increase in interest rates, despite some investor sentiment to delay the hike.

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 9 health lifestyle community Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center news March 23, 2023 Your Kenosha ADRC Update Your Voice. Your Choice. Who will speak for you if you can’t? Free event to be held April 21 “Who will speak on our behalf about medical care, if we cannot speak for ourselves? Asked Helen Sampson, Quality Coordinator with the ADRC and member of the Kenosha County Care Transition Coalition, “It is one of the things we actually can control. Because Wisconsin is not a next-of-kin state, we should be proactive about planning ahead as early as age 18.  With just a little time and thought, completing an advance directive is not hard. All adults can and should complete a power of attorney for health care. It’s never too late, until it’s too late.” The public is invited to a celebration of National Healthcare Decisions Day Friday, April 21, 2 – 4 p.m. at the Kenosha County Job Center, 8600 Sheridan Road, Entrance A, Room N2. National Healthcare Decisions Day is an opportunity for Americans to make their future healthcare decisions known to family, friends and healthcare providers, through the establishment of advance directives, such as a living will or a power of attorney for healthcare. Rita Hagen, Executive Director of Hospice Alliance, explains, “An Advance Directive allows you to express your choices if you are unable to and to choose who can make decisions for you if you are unable to. They help to ensure good quality of life and end-of-life care. They eliminate confusion and conflict, give peace of mind and reduce stress.” Kenosha’s event will host a panel of community members and leaders who will share what completing an advance directive means to them. This year’s panel is a reminder that advance directives are important for all adults. The Coalition is excited to welcome Samantha Kerkman, Kenosha County Executive; Ri’Ana Johnson; Educator and Author; and Nicholas Eschmann, Division Chief of EMS. “Advance Directives are legal documents that spell out specific decisions about care ahead of time to avoid a crisis conversation,” Shared Jaymie L. Laurent, Senior Director of Social Services, Patient Relations and Spiritual Care, with Froedtert South. “Completing an Advance Directive gives our patients and their families a peace of mind. It answers specific questions regarding health care and guides the health care team on the delivery of care to be carried out.”  The event is sponsored by the Kenosha County Care Transitions Coalition, which includes Advocate Aurora Health, Brookside Care Center, Community Care, Inc., Crossroads Care Center, CVS Aetna, The Manor of Kenosha, Froedtert South, Good Value Pharmacy, Hospice Alliance, Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services, Kenosha Community Health Center, Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center, Kenosha County Division of Aging, Disability & Behavioral Health Services, Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association, My Choice Wisconsin, Right At Home, Superior Health Quality Alliance, and The Bay at Sheridan. Registration to the event is encouraged. To register or for additional information please call the Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center at 262- 605-6646.. DHS Investigating FoodShare Benefits Scam The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is investigating a scam that targets FoodShare members through fake text messages. DHS is alerting members to take steps now to protect their benefits. “It is alarming that scammers are going after public benefits like FoodShare that people rely on to feed themselves and their families,” said DHS Inspector General Anthony Baize. “We encourage FoodShare members to understand how to protect their benefits from these increasingly sophisticated scams and to report them when they happen.” The DHS investigation is based on complaints from concerned FoodShare members about a scam instructing them to call a phone number to confirm their account and personal identification numbers (PINs) to avoid having benefits locked. Scammers then use this information to access and steal the benefits. Who you should call if you have questions about your FoodShare benefits or to report suspicious account activity: • Check your FoodShare card balance by calling QUEST Card Service at 877-415-5164 or using the MyACCESS mobile app, ebtEDGE website, or ebtEDGE mobile app. Using only these tools to check your card balance helps prevent unauthorized card access. • Call your local agency to ask about suspicious FoodShare account activity, check account information, establish an account password, and ask general benefit questions. • Call QUEST Card Service 24/7 to change PINs, immediately report lost or stolen cards, and to report suspicious FoodShare acount activity outside of your local agency's business hours. • Report any emails or texts about your FoodShare benefits that are not sent to you by DHS to the agency that issues your benefits and Wisconsin’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-422-7128 or [email protected]. This hotline is run by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Be sure to avoid clicking any links in the email or text message or calling the phone number that sent you the text message or any phone number in the message. For more information visit: https://dhs.wisconsin.gov/news be ate ert at ed ry he ays of he ply nd er es of ze nt ng mit ce ng tly an hat ain of rs tle on ed to ng ity ry in k,” at, he s. ue ge

10 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F Reduce Your Falls Risk with Stepping On Next free, seven-week course to begin March 30 The Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center, is hosting a Stepping On course, to be offered virtually, beginning on Thursday, March 30, 2023. Stepping On is a free, seven-week educational series, to help reduce falls in older adults. Wisconsin is ranked #1 in the nation for falls that lead to death among the elderly. More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling. We want to change those statistics with Stepping On! In Stepping On, you’ll learn how to build and maintain the physical strength and balance you need to walk confidently. From footwear to prescriptions, you'll learn what increases your risk of a fall, how to avoid it,  and make an individualized action plan to stay on your feet and living life the way you want. The online sessions will be held Thursdays, March 30 through May 11 from 10 a.m. – noon. Participants will need internet access and access to a computer, iPad or other tablet. For questions or to register call the ADRC at 262- 605-6646. In-person or Virtual Caregiver Coffee Club ADRC offers support group for those caring for someone with dementia Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) offers a support group to help family caregivers who care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or other form of dementia. Join others engaged in helping their loved ones manage day to day living. Relax, chat and learn helpful tips and strategies. The Caregiver Coffee Club meets the first Wednesday of each month from 10-11 a.m., the next meeting will be on April 5, 2023. The support group is available in-person or virtually. Facilitated by Susan Johnson, Dementia Care Specialist with the Kenosha County ADRC. To register call 262-605-6646. Virtual Connect – March / April Are you looking for a way to connect with your peers? Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services, Inc. (KAFASI), has a suggestion. If you are over age 60 and would like to listen, view and participate in our Virtual Connect Programs please join us! Virtual connect features topics and speakers of interest to seniors. You can join via Zoom or by phone. Programs are held on Mondays or Wednesdays and last for one hour. • Monday, March 27, 11 a.m.  Book Lovers Group welcomes local author Dave McGrath sharing his experience as a fan who wrote a book about 60’s music star Gene Pitney. • Monday, April 3, 1 p.m. Assisted Living Options for Seniors with Rachel DeWildt from Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) • Wednesday, April 12, 11 a.m. Financial Abuse with Sonia from The Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups • Wednesday, April 19, 11 a.m. Earth Day Event with Kallie from Gateway’s Sustainable Living Center • Monday, April 24, 11 a.m. “Show and Tell” Remember Grade School? Show us your special item or object and tell us the story of it! A monthly calendar is sent out with all the upcoming events. The calendar can be mailed to you if requested. An initial invitation you can save to your calendar with the link is sent via email one week prior. An email reminder with the Zoom link is sent out the morning of each event. A call-in number is also available to join over the phone. Please contact Janice Erickson for more information or to sign up to receive the program schedule. Email [email protected] or leave a message at 262-287-7469. Your Kenosha ADRC Update S D A an Re ed D is fo m pe m in w de m de de D 50 fo th ne in qu ho th ca ah co yo liv yo Ro in m of an K D P T C Si fo of pr ed be be co th A Y A

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 11 th & on y’s ol? us he to ve ail he nt. he re m a Someone in Your Life has Dementia A Roadmap for Care – Now offered virtually and in-person The Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center offers a regularly scheduled educational program, Someone in Your Life has Dementia: A Roadmap for Care. The presentation is for anyone caring for an individual living with a form of dementia and will be offered every other month, with the options for both virtual and inperson meetings. Dementia is a general term used to describe memory loss and the impaired ability to process information and make decisions which interferes with daily life. There are many subtypes of dementia, with Alzheimer’s Disease being the most common form, followed by Vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, Frontotemporal degeneration, mixed dementia and others. Dementia is not a part of normal aging; however, 50 million people worldwide are living with some form of this syndrome. Susan Johnson, Dementia Care Specialist with the ADRC, has developed and will facilitate this new presentation. Johnson has a master’s degree in Gerontology and has a passion for improving quality of life for caregiving families. She offers hope and understanding to caregivers, as well as those living with dementia. The presentation will help prepare and guide caregivers, while building confidence for the road ahead. It will address common caregiver concerns, such as: • Whether recently diagnosed or not, what do you need to know about caring for someone living with dementia? • How do you know what to expect and what your person needs, as the disease progresses? Someone in Your Life has Dementia: A Roadmap for Care, will be offered virtually and in-person, the second Wednesday, every other month, noon – 1 p.m.. The next class will be offered on April 12, 2023. For more information and to register, call the ADRC, 262-605-6646. Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center Presents Free In-Depth Training for Family Caregivers Six-week Course Offers Education on Caring for an Older Adult with Dementia The Aging & Disability Resource Center is offering a free, six-week program designed to provide family caregivers with clinical level education and training. “The Savvy Caregiver” will be held on six consecutive Wednesdays, beginning May 3, 1 – 3 p.m. The series will conclude on June 7. This workshop is open to those providing care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. The Savvy Caregiver training program is a unique approach to family caregiver education. The central concept is the notion of strategy. Throughout the program caregivers are invited to learn, develop, and modify strategies for their particular caregiving situation. Participants will gain increased understanding of dementia and how it affects the person as well as the family, skills to assess abilities of a loved one with dementia, confidence to set and alter caregiving goals, strategies to manage activities of daily living, and perspective on the course of the diagnosis as it relates to the person they are caring for. Offered both virtually and in-person, Savvy Caregiver Training Program provides over 12- hours of face-to-face training, a caregiver manual and  access to community resources. In-person meeting will be located at the ADRC, 8600 Sheridan Road, Kenosha, WI. To learn more and to register please contact Susan Johnson, Dementia Care Specialist with the Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center, at 262-605-6602. Caring for an adult family member or friend? Family Caregiver Support Group Meets inperson and virtually The role of a family caregiver, while rewarding, can also be challenging when trying to balance life’s responsibilities along with supporting the needs of another individual, family member or friend. The Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) offers a Family Caregiver Support Group, the first Thursday of every month. Family caregivers often don’t see themselves as caregivers, they simply think of themselves as the husband, sister, daughter or friend. Defined, a family caregiver is a person who provides support for an adult who needs assistance with daily living activities, such as cooking, driving, shopping, laundry and paying bills. If you are a family caregiver, this group is for you! Join fellow caregivers, either virtually or inperson, as you share your experiences, ask questions and learn from others. The group is facilitated by the ADRC’s Margaret Ricchio, Caregiver Support Specialist, and Susan Johnson, Dementia Care Specialist. The next meeting will be Thursday, April 6, 4-5 p.m. In-person location is 8600 Sheridan Road, entrance D. To register, learn more or to receive the virtual link, call the Kenosha County ADRC, 262-605-6646. Free Healthy Living with Diabetes Class offered! The Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center is offering a free class for those want to learn more about diabetes. Healthy Living with Diabetes is a 6-week evidence-based program from Stanford University that has helped people world-wide: • Be in control and feel better • Have more energy • Use new tools to manage their diabetes • Create new goals Healthy Living with Diabetes will be offered, Wednesdays, 4 – 6 p.m., April 5 – May 10, at Salem Community Library, 24615 89th St, Salem, WI. If you are a Kenosha County resident, age 50 or older and have diabetes or care for someone who does, call the ADRC at 262-605-6646 to learn more or to register. Memory Cafe The Kenosha County Memory Café will be meeting in-person at the Kenosha Southwest Neighborhood Library starting this December. Memory Café is a place for persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment, early-stage Alzheimer’s, or related dementia, and their care partners to socialize and have fun. Join the Kenosha County Aging & Disability Resource Center’s Dementia Care Specialist, Susan Johnson, and the Alzheimer's Association on the second Tuesday of every month, 1-2 p.m. The next meeting will be on April 11, 2023, Kenosha Southwest Neighborhood Library, 7979 38th Avenue. Registration is required for new members. Call Alzheimer's Association 800-272-3900.. Your Kenosha ADRC Update

12 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F 8 o c c t b w i y i t d f a t m y a f S B t a o d d t m d t d a i I A a a c h Many older folks are asking me about getting disability benefits from Social Security. I'll offer some tips on how to go about doing that in a minute. But first, here are some ground rules that vary depending on your age. If you are over your full retirement age, forget about it. Once you reach that age, disability benefits are no longer payable. Or to put that another way, the retirement benefit you are getting pays the same rate as any disability benefits you might be due. If you are under age 62 and disabled, then you should definitely file for Social Security disability. There is information about how to do that later in this column. If you are over 62 and not yet on Social Security, then you should file for retirement and disability benefits at the same time. The Social Security Administration can start your retirement payments right away. Then if your disability claim is eventually approved, they will switch you to the higher disability rate. But if you are between age 62 and your full retirement age, and are already getting Social Security retirement benefits, you may or may not be eligible for disability payments. Or to be more precise, the closer you are to your full retirement age, the smaller your disability boost will be -- and you may decide it's just not worth all the hassle. That's because your disability rate (normally equal to your full retirement age benefit) must be reduced for every month you've already received a Social Security retirement check. And you will eventually reach a point where you simply gain very little by filing for Social Security disability. Here is a quick example of that. Sam filed for retirement benefits at age 62. His benefit was reduced roughly one-half of 1% for each month he was under his full retirement age. He is getting 75% of his FRA rate. At 65, he had a heart attack. If he files for disability benefits and if his claim is approved, his regular disability rate, again equal to his FRA benefit, must be reduced by about one-half of 1% for each month he's already received a retirement benefit. At age 65, he's received 36 retirement checks, so his disability rate must be cut by about 18%. So instead of a 100% disability rate, he'd get about 82%. Sam would have to decide if it is worth all the hassle of filing for disability just to get bumped up from his current 75% rate to 82%. I've used the phrase, "all the hassle," twice already. Let me tell you what the hassle is by giving you a quick rundown of the Social Security disability application process. First, you will fill out a bunch of papers. The primary one is a form that asks you to describe your disability and how it prevents you from working. That latter point is the key. You don't get disability benefits simply because you have some kind of physical or mental impairment. You get disability benefits because you have a physical or mental impairment that keeps you from working, so you must describe in detail how your disability prevents you from doing your job. That same form also asks you to list your medical providers. The government can't make a decision about your case without having the evidence to back up your claim, so make sure you thoroughly list the names, addresses, phone numbers and any other contact information you have for every doctor, hospital, clinic or other medical professional from whom you've received treatment. The Social Security Administration contracts out disability decisions to an agency in each state that is staffed with doctors and other medically trained personnel. They are the folks who decide if you meet the legal definition of "disability" for Social Security purposes. In a nutshell, the rules say your impairment must be one that will keep you from doing any kind of work for which you are suited and one that is expected to last at least 12 months. There is a pretty good chance you will be asked to go to a Social Security doctor for additional evaluation. Make sure you don't miss that appointment. Your disability claim will usually take about three months to process. If it's approved, you'll start getting disability social security Disability Benefits for Senior Citizens with Tom Margenau If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has the answer. Contact him at thomas.margenau@comcast. net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. continues on next page 032323 FREE event! NATIONAL HEALTHCARE DECISIONS DAY Friday, April 21, 2023 2–4 p.m. “Hey, Kenosha! This is Graham Nash speaking...” Reservations encouraged. ADRC: 262-605-6646. Kenosha County Job Center 8600 Sheridan Road Room North 2, Entrance A “Your voice, your choice. Who will speak for you if you can’t? Complete your advance directive!” Sponsored by the Kenosha County Care Transitions Coalition SR032323

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 13 An 82-year-old woman is the world's oldest female hockey player, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Linda Sinrod, of Lorton, Va., was a figure skater before becoming enamored with hockey at age 35, when a friend asked her if she wanted to try the sport during a visit to a frozen pond. Sinrod enjoyed hockey so much that she became a founding member of the first woman's hockey team in the Washington, D.C., area. Sinrod played for 10 years and then left the team for over a decade before reconnecting with her former teammates. "After retiring I looked up what my old teammates were doing and found one was coaching the Prince William Wildcats team, so at age 67 I decided to join them," she said. Sinrod's teammates asked her to leave the Wildcats at age 75 because she was struggling to keep up with them. She didn't want to give up hockey, so she started playing in a women's league that would choose teams twice a year. "I've always been the oldest person playing, so I have always even curious as to how old the oldest female oldest female hockey player, was and eventually as I got to be 80, I checked Guinness World Records to see how old the oldest was," Sinrod said. By Patrick Hilsman 82-year-old is the world's oldest female hockey player Social Security continued from previous page checks six months after they say your disability began. (That six-month waiting period is built into the law.) If your claim is denied, you will have to decide if it is worth it to appeal that decision. If you decide to do that, the first appeal is usually just a review of your case by the state agency that made the first decision. If your claim is denied again, then you can file for a hearing before a Social Security judge. Because of backlogs, those hearings can take about a year to set up. By the way, the "word on the street" is that all disability claims are denied the first time and that it takes a year or more to get a final decision. That's just not true. About 35% of all disability claims are approved the first time in that 3-month window I mentioned earlier. Another 15% or so are approved after the first appeal. It's only those claims that end up in the hearing judge's backlog that take a long time to process. Do you need a lawyer to handle your disability claim? Quick answer: not right away. You certainly don't need legal help to file a disability claim or to file for the first review if the claim is denied. But if you find yourself heading for a hearing before an SSA judge, many folks feel more comfortable having a lawyer there to represent them. Just be aware that they are usually going to take about 25% of any back pay benefits you receive if they win the case for you. So, to sum up, if you are a senior citizen with physical and/or mental health issues, you may or may not be eligible for Social Security disability benefits depending on the factors explained in this column.If I were Carol, I'd be the one complaining that teachers get such a sweet deal from Social Security that no one else can get. A Texas woman whose career in radio spans more than 71 years was awarded a Guinness World Record for her tenure in broadcasting. Guinness World Records said Mary McCoy was awarded the record for the longest career as a radio presenter/DJ when her time in the industry was verified at 71 years, 357 days on Feb. 15. McCoy, who got her start working five days a week as a radio host at the age of 12, beat the previous record by more than three years, Guinness said. "Growing up my dream was to get into the entertainment business. I started out singing at talent shows and I was asked to audition for a radio show," she told Guinness. "They liked what they heard and I started working at KMCO Radio on April 20, 1951, doing a 15- minute singing program." The now-85-year-old still hosts the two-hour Country Classics show six days a week on KVST K-Star Country in Huntsville. McCoy also had a music career in addition to her DJ duties, and once shared the stage with Elvis Presley when the singer and his band joined her for a few songs in 1955. By Ben Hooper DJ's 71-year radio career earns Guinness World Record a ay be ou of re is st od ed ty al re at m ut ss. 'll ty ge SR061519 30 GUARANTEED DAY LOWEST PRICE WE WILL MEET PRICE BEAT OR ANY ADVERTISED ON ANY TIRE WE SELL WITH THE PURCHSE OF 4 TIRES FREE LIFETIME ROTATIONS OVER 18 BRANDS INCLUDING BFGOODRICH, BRIDGESTONE, MICHELIN, GOODYEAR & MORE! 262-694-1500 7110 74th PL, Kenosha, WI “Located next to Menards” YOUR CERTIFIED GM SERVICE CENTER... 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14 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F S j e R R o P B t a t B p A c y “ fr t fi h S h w s p B T Ja o w t t S t le w a h t r s g it s T t T a a w d s books Among the tragedies of Amazon deforestation is the human cost – workers who heeded the Brazilian government’s call to develop the land and found themselves caught in the clutches of corrupt ranching, logging, and mining interests. Many who were lured to the region hoping to build small farms and raise food for their families were forced by economic circumstances to work on vast cattle and logging estates. They were not allowed to leave and kept in virtual servitude. Abuse of the land and abuse of the people who live there go hand in hand. That’s the message of Spanish journalist Heriberto Araujo’s Masters of the Lost Land: The Untold Story of the Amazon and the Violent Fight for the World’s Last Frontier. His book examines how Brazil got to this point and explains why the challenge is not just preserving biodiversity and keeping carbon out of the atmosphere, but also respecting the rights of the humans who live in Amazonia. “Masters of the Lost Land” presents the findings of Araujo’s three-year investigation into the murder of Jose Dutra da Costa (known as “Dezinho”), a human rights activist and union organizer who lived in the Amazonian frontier town of Rondon do Pará. Dezinho’s heroic efforts to gain justice for rural workers demonstrate the complexity – and danger – of standing up to the power of the Amazon’s ruthless new elite. Rondon is located at the eastern end of the “arc of deforestation,” a crescent-shaped belt on the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest. Over the years, major highways were built, leading to an influx of settlers seeking small plots, as well as cattle ranchers, loggers, gold miners, and commercial soybean growers. The migration was sparked by Operation Amazonia, which was launched by the Brazilian government in 1966 to settle the jungle and fill “the largest demographic void in the world,” as it was considered at the time. (Never mind the fact that Indigenous people were already living there.) The slogan of the campaign was “Land for people, for people without land.” But the real beneficiaries were big logging interests and agribusinesses, which cut down the rainforest to produce commodities for export. Araujo describes Rondon in its early days as a noisy, stinky boomtown of sawmills and livestock auctions where would-be fortune hunters flocked from poorer parts of Brazil. Much of the land around the town was story continues on page 15 Lawlessness, violence, courage: A battle for the Amazon No obstacle too tall for this Ugandan wildlife veterinarian Her dream job didn’t exist, so she invented it. When Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was studying at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College in the 1990s, there was no veterinarian assigned to look after the diverse and often threatened wildlife in the national parks of her native Uganda, but even as a young woman, she saw a dire need for one. So she appealed to the parks’ director and had a job waiting for her after graduation; it was the first of many trailblazing actions she would go on to take in her brilliant career. In her inspiring new memoir, Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet, the conservationist recounts her work advocating for wildlife in the field and beyond. Kalema-Zikusoka’s early years were packed with challenges and unforgettable experiences that shaped the way she saw conservation. She tells of thrilling and harrowing events, such as the time when she led an effort to airlift a few giraffes from Kenya back to Uganda to replenish a dwindling herd. She also describes medical mysteries that proved illuminating. An investigation into the source of a skin condition on giraffes and elephants determined ultimately (and counterintuitively) that it was the result of wildlife lost to poaching. Fewer megafauna were around to chomp on vegetation, so plants grew unchecked, creating more opportunities for parasitecarrying insects to proliferate, causing rashes on the remaining animals. “Nothing in an ecosystem functions in a vacuum,” writes the author. But though she looked out for a variety of species, the mountain gorillas held a special place in her heart. They were critically endangered in the mid1990s when KalemaZikusoka began her career, with only roughly 600 gorillas remaining globally. The primates with whom we share over 98% of our genetic material were struggling against habitat loss, disease, and poaching. “Walking with Gorillas” is full of heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of individual gorillas the author came to know and love. Her work as a wildlife vet in parks neighboring human settlements taught her the need to engage those communities in looking out for their local gorillas. Blanket moratoriums on poaching didn’t work, but increasing employment opportunities in villages and inspiring people to care for the animals did. Former poachers became rangers. Then came the issue of keeping the primates healthy; gorillas were protected when tourists kept a safe distance and when the wellness of people in neighboring villages improved. The interconnected nature of the wellbeing of people and the future of the mountain gorilla motivated KalemaZikusoka to found the nongovernmental organization Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH); much of the latter half of “Walking with Gorillas'' revolves around the challenges of getting CTPH off the ground. The author’s pivot from being a veterinarian to running a pioneering organization with an unorthodox focus on both animal and human health is deeply impressive, especially since she faced discrimination along the way: “...I knew I would be judged as an African woman, an even greater rarity in the world of conservation, but I was determined to succeed. I had never let my color or gender stop me from accomplishing what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t about to start now.” A theme emerges in K a l e m a - Z i k u s o k a ’ s memoir: Whatever challenge she has come up against, she has been ready to conquer. There was a steep learning curve involved in becoming Uganda’s first official wildlife vet, and she was often thrown into complex and dangerous situations. Sometimes she had help, but frequently, she was required to take the lead and make decisions that could mean life or death for the animals in her care. As the founder of CTPH, she had to quickly learn how to raise funds and use the money to fulfill her vision of helping people and, by extension, gorillas. The scientist even describes the process of figuring out how to run a profitable coffee business when she realized she could keep residents of gorilla habitat-adjacent towns from poaching if they could earn a living wage farming. The impact of her bravery, passion, and determination is inestimable, but it’s no surprise that mountain gorillas were upgraded from critically endangered status to endangered in 2008. Though the book could stand to be a bit more personal and narratively driven, “Walking with Gorillas” is an uplifting account of a tremendous career, one that serves as a model that all of us, with enough dedication, could follow. By Olive Fellows To protect animals in Uganda, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka found she needed to help villagers find work and learn to value their role in caring for wildlife. Her memoir “Walking with Gorillas” reveals her dedication and persistence.

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 PRINT & E-BOOKS NONFICTION PRINT & E-BOOKS FICTION 1. It Starts With Us (Hoover) 2. Daisy Jones & The Six (Reid) 3. It Ends With Us (Hoover) 4. Never Never (Hoover/Fisher) 5. Lessons in Chemistry (Garmus) 6. Worthy Opponents (Steel) 7. Heart Bones (Hoover) 8. Verity (Hoover) 9. Storm Watch (Box) 10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Reid) 1. Spare (Prince Harry) 2. The Courage To Be Free (DeSantis) 3. The Body Keeps the Score (van der Kolk) 4. I’m Glad My Mom Died (McCurdy) 5. It’s Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism (Sanders) 6. Walk the Blue Line (Patterson/Eversmann/Mooney) 7. The Light We Carry (M.Obama) 8. All About Love (Hooks) 9. Saving Time (Odell) 10. Braiding Sweetgrass (Kimmerer) NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERS Slavery has ended, but her journey has only just begun stolen by moneyed land-grabbers (called grilleros). The grilleros forged documents and bribed local officials to lay claim to public lands controlled by the Brazilian government, including territories occupied by Indigenous tribes. Araujo cites a police investigation that found that 5 million acres had been illegally seized in the region near Rondon alone. The sad fact, the author writes, is that Brazil has many progressive laws on the books and good people in its agencies committed to safeguarding the natural environment. It also has a vast network of protected areas in the Amazon, at least on paper. But it remains a country in which the rule of law is often weak in rural areas and where the government presence is marginal at best. Land theft – and the violence that accompanies it – are everyday affairs. In the early 2000s, Brazil experienced high levels of economic growth, fueled in large part by its abundant natural resources and the rapid expansion of large-scale agriculture. Today, Brazil is the world’s third-largest exporter of agricultural products, behind the European Union and the United States, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the breakneck speed of economic development has brought widespread environmental destruction in its wake, as well as a widening gap between rich and poor. Nowhere are these inequities more glaring than in Rondon – Araujo calls it “a nest of gunmen” – which resembles the American Wild West during the 19th century. Disputes are often settled by pistoleros, assassins hired by ranchers to eliminate those who resist their stranglehold on power. Dezinho and his wife, Maria Joel, knew little of this dark reality when they came to the Amazon in the hope of rising out of poverty. Dezinho took up lucrative, if dangerous, work in the logging industry. But he was soon appalled by the pervasive violence and the wretched working conditions that his fellow workers suffered under. Evidence mounted that Dezinho was killed at the direction of a lumber baron, who was eventually convicted on two separate occasions in local courts, but has yet to serve jail time. Dezinho’s soft-spoken widow, Maria Joel, the mother of four young children, toyed with the idea of leaving the region, which she detested from the beginning. Unwilling to let her husband’s murderers win, however, she decided to fight back. Maria Joel replaced her husband as the leader of the farmworkers union and took up the mantle of his crusade. Her efforts brought international attention to the plight of migrants in the Amazon. Under her leadership, grants have been made to 10,000 poor families, restoring their right to farm their own land. Maria Joel has received numerous death threats and lives a precarious existence under 24- hour police guard. With the reelection of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known as Lula) in 2022, who served a previous term from 2003 to 2010, hopes have revived that Brazil’s government can succeed in putting the brakes on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest – which the president has pledged to do. But this cautious optimism is tempered by the fact that impunity for big landowners continues to be the norm in rural Brazil, and the justice system remains broken. Araujo’s book can be a tough and dispiriting read given the viciousness that it chronicles and the Byzantine legal meanderings and complexities it documents. The story is not an easy parable in which good triumphs and evil is punished. It is, however, a raw account of the critical struggle between law and lawlessness on the world’s last great frontier. Lula’s job – and Brazil’s great challenge – is to end the corruption that is eating away at the Amazon’s future. Confronting these dark forces won’t be easy, and establishing the rule of law in a region where it has largely vanished won’t happen overnight. But Dezinho and Maria Joel’s story leaves room for hope that, with courage and perseverance, things can change. By Richard Schiffman In Eleanor Shearer’s eloquent debut novel, River Sing Me Home, Rachel, along with the other enslaved people on Providence Plantation in Barbados, has just heard the joyous news that they are now free. Except they’re not. While the British parliament has passed the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, they must continue to work six more years as unpaid “apprentices” before their freedom takes legal effect. Still, this hint of freedom, this promise, is enough to fire the spark in Rachel that has lain dormant for years. She decides to search for her five adult children, who were taken from her and sold over the years to plantations across the British Caribbean. Micah. Mary Grace. Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane, Mercy. “We whisper the names of the ones we love like the words of a song. That was the taste of freedom to us, those names on our lips,” Shearer writes. The author draws us into the journey, as Rachel leaves behind not only a world of sugar cane fields and savage dogs, but also her own insignificance. On the run, she follows the river and doesn’t stop until she catches her first glimpse of the sea. Viewing its vastness, she feels life spreading out before her. The sea will form part of the great heart of her story. The river will be its arteries, flowing both to and from it. Mama B, a free black woman, finds her there and divines her purpose: “Me see it in your face. Your pickney. You want to find them.” While some parts of the novel’s dialogue are written in the vernacular, the manner in which this is handled is one of the most admirable things in the book. Dialect is used not to define but to elucidate character. No one would get the impression that because Shearer dispenses with nouns or uses words like “pickney” for “children” that we are dealing with anything less than strength. The meaning always comes across. And the people expressing themselves in this manner are treated not with condescension but with respect. The trail that Rachel embarks on will take her not only to the far reaches of the Caribbean but on an inward journey that will see her grow beyond the view she has been taught to have of herself. She will come to recognize and then deeply appreciate her own competence and strength. Shearer’s gift is to show us that Rachel’s story is our story. We all want to construct a place to call home. We all want to constitute (or, in Rachel’s case, re-constitute) a family. The journey toward this safe place called “home” can take many forms, and does, but the longing itself is universal. “Rachel was reminded of when a stone dropped into water and the ripples fanned outward, their bands distorting but never quite escaping the original shape of the splash that created them.” Hers will not, of course, be an easy undertaking. Few life-altering journeys are. But what is so hope-filled about Rachel’s quest is the way she expands to meet the world as it expands around her. She will encounter good white men and bad ones. Good Black men and those who despise their own race. She will learn to know the Indigenous Carib peoples who inhabited the islands and grew prosperous well before the arrival of Europeans or enslaved Africans. She will master new skills. She will find herself – and this discovery will be a revelation. Some of the situations she encounters will be fraught and some of them better than she expected. But none of them turn out to be exactly as she anticipated when she looked out through the lens of slavery on Providence Plantation. This another reason Rachel’s story, her quest, is so universal. We grow. And as we do, the world grows around us, shifting and changing as we walk through it. Toward the end of the novel, at the moment of what appears to be the greatest danger, as she is pulled swiftly through raging waters, Rachel finds herself thinking, “Could it be? They had plunged unthinkingly into the river. Had it really brought them where they wanted to go?” To freedom. To family. To home. And once she realizes this, she starts singing. “It was a song Rachel recognized. ... An Akan song, a song of their ancestors, a song with a melody that vibrated in Rachel’s bones, where it had been sung once before, long ago.” And, in the end, it is following that river of freedom that has sung her home. By Deborah Johnson continued from page 14 Lawlessness On the Caribbean islands, slavery has just been abolished. Though not quite free, a mother goes looking for her stolen children and discovers her own strength, in Eleanor Shearer's moving novel "River Sing Me Home." at or H, n e er e s. n of a ss e of nt ey e er d is o n d d n k it d g g us a h d ws SMART READER March 23, 2023 15

16 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F C no ly H sa ly ly pr a g th un ha bl of ce bl re bl th as im de in C di of ne ba ly st re fre ar bl m pr Th M W d th a D in o w c c h o w lo m d c C d U M D o H One of the most fulfilling moments of my career happened just a few days ago. It’s a story worth sharing for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it should inspire you to do something you think is impossible. It’s a tale of the three Ds: diligence, determination and dedication, mixed with a heaping spoonful of courage. Just before dinner, I got a text from a reader named Angel, a 28-year-old mom of three mischievous boys in Schenectady, New York. Just before Christmas of 2021, Angel purchased a consultation phone call from me that would change both of our lives. She typed: “I am trying to build a dormer and wanted to know if it would be possible for you to give me step-bystep instructions of what I need to do and a list of materials. … I really need your help.” When I take these phone calls, my responsibility is to assess a homeowner’s skills and expectations in the first few moments of a call. The last thing I want is for you to get into a situation where a contractor will swoop in and pick your bones and savings account clean. Angel’s desire to complete this project was intense. Five minutes into that phone call years ago, I knew her boys were going to have a bright and delightful attic playroom made possible by their mom’s sweat and sore back. So, days ago, when I looked at Angel's text, I saw a photo of a completed dormer poking out of a steep slate roof on a century-old home. Angel wrote, “Hi friend. It’s Angel … the dormer went really well … no leaking and we made it through the winter pretty good.…” I was bursting with excitement and replied: “No leaks!!!! VICTORY! I’m so proud of you!!” I shared this news with my wife Kathy, and she was just as excited as I was. I decided to interview Angel so you could tap into her inner strength. Using some of her inspirational nectar, you’ll be able to tackle a project and save yourself tens of thousands of dollars. Over the phone, I discovered much more about Angel. She and her husband both work full time. They have three sons, and although Angel had hoped her last child would be a girl, God had other plans. When I dug deeper into how much DIY experience she and her husband had, she said with no hesitation: “We didn’t know how to do anything. We built bed frames for our kids.” Let that marinate in your brain for a moment and then try to picture cutting a hole in your roof that measures 10 feet wide by 12 feet long. Angel was quick to offer up, “We didn’t hire a contractor because the bids were too expensive, and in our immediate metropolitan area no one could do the job.” I know many of you are likely in this situation. I get about 50 emails a week at my website complaining about high prices and contractors who won’t return phone calls. Angel didn’t let that huge obstacle stop her from reaching her goal. Nor should you. Sixteen months earlier on our first call, Angel told me she had gone to the library to read books about framing and building dormers. I wanted to know what finally gave her the confidence she could start to take slate off a steep roof. She surprised me by saying: “I read a lot of books about how to frame and build dormers, but they left many questions unanswered. The most important thing was being able to get in touch with you.” I wondered about fear because it can be paralyzing. When I asked Angel about this she replied: “My biggest fear was what happens if something goes wrong. Having someone like you to talk to knowing you have my back allowed me to contain my fear.“ As the conversation unfolded, Angel told me they only bought a circular saw, a reciprocating saw and a nail gun to build the dormer. They already had a 4-foot level, a tape measure or two, and a ladder. Believe it or not, you only need those and a few more simple tools to build a dormer. I asked Angel what she would have done differently if she could go back in time. As we all know, hindsight is 20/20, and she didn’t hesitate to say: “I would have started earlier. We let the summer and dry weather slip by. Once we cut the hole in the roof, it rained every day, and we kept the house dry using a big tarp. Had we started two months earlier, it would have never rained a drop on the job.” You’re preaching to the choir, Angel! Rain is something most contractors fight on a routine basis. I congratulated Angel at the end of the call and once again told her how proud I was of her and her husband. We said our goodbyes, and I sat and thought about what she had done in just four months' time working on the weekends. An hour later, my phone rang and there was Angel’s excited voice. “Tim, guess what!" she said. "I just found out I’m allowed to do all of the electric and plumbing, too! I know you can help me and you’re going to save me an additional $10,000.” Indeed, I will. Along the way, Angel is going to become even more confident. I wouldn’t be surprised if within several years she decides to build her own home like I helped Zoe do in New Mexico two years ago. Trust me, you can do things you think are impossible! Let Angel’s dormer be an inspiration to try new DIY projects Subscribe to Tim’s FREE newsletter at AsktheBuilder.com. Tim offers phone coaching calls if you get stuck during a DIY job. Go here: go.askthebuilder.com /coaching Tim Carter joins Happenings Q&A on Tue. Apr. 25th at 1:30 pm on AM1050 WLIP. Imagine a mother of three young boys cutting a hole in her roof like this to create a dormer. If she can do a big job like this, so can you. Lemon Street Gallery & Artspace announce new Director Lemon Street Gallery & Artspace has announced the appointment of Shelby Nesmith to serve as director. For 20-plus years, Lemon Street has served as a community-oriented cooperative of artists. Its main goal is to provide juried venues for our artist members to exhibit and sell their work. The broader mission of LSG is to offer quality visual arts education and opportunities for member artist development and to support community enrichment programs and advocate for the arts in cooperation with other organizations. Shelby, having served in a key marketing and community engagement role for the past two years, has been responsible for bringing the gallery’s message to the community and forging new connections with other non-profit groups, schools and change agents. In her new position, Shelby will oversee all day-to-day operations and management of the gallery, artist-member communications and further community engagement. Shelby’s efforts have led to additional new classes as well as increased participation in existing classes. “We couldn’t be happier to have Shelby accept this position,” said LSG board of directors president Jake Hoey. “Her success in building new relationships in Kenosha and with other arts groups helps serve the membership, and it helps keep Lemon Street connected with the broader community.” Shelby replaces longtime Lemon Street director, Beth Dary. “Beth was the steadying leader that helped keep LSG going strong during the difficult times during and immediately following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said LSG board past president Rex Davenport. “Many nonprofits, especially those with a public presence suffered tremendously during the pandemic.” “Beth, as an artistmember had a strong connection with her fellow artists. She was also a trusted source of guidance both artistically and on business matters for members.” Lemon Street Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is also open by appointment. For information about individual artist members, programs, events and classes, visit lemon streetgallery.org By Meridith Jumisko Shelby Nesmith (left) previously served the Lemon Street Gallery & Artspace as the Development Coordinator before being named the successor of longtime Director Beth Dary (right) earlier this month.

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 17 DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My sister recently noticed significantly enlarged lymph nodes in her neck. Her primary care physician said he thought she had lymphoma. What is lymphoma and what is her prognosis? Is it hereditary? ANSWER: Lymphoma is a group of cancers that affect the lymphocytes. To better understand lymphoma, we have to start with the white blood cells. White blood cells are one of the three main types of cells that circulate in the blood, the other two being red cells and platelets. White blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and serve as the main element of the immune systems that helps defend the body against infections, such as the flu, COVID-19 and other diseases. There are five main types of white blood cells: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes and lymphocytes. In a normal state, these cells die and get replaced by new cells frequently. The lymphocytes, which are a major type of white blood cells, could develop mutations in their DNA, preventing them from dying. The immortality of these cells is a defining feature of cancer. Cancer of the lymphocytes is called lymphoma. Lymphoma could be regarded as a cancer of the white blood cells, cancer of the immune system or cancer of the blood, in essence, because of the origin of the cells and not because of the location of the cancer. Subsequently, these abnormal lymphocytes start dividing and creating copies. The accumulation of these cells builds tumors. Most often these tumors present as enlarged lymph nodes. Lymphomas are very diverse cancers. There are more than 80 different types of lymphomas. They are broadly divided into two categories: Hodgkin lymphomas and nonHodgkin lymphomas. These lymphomas may affect any part of the body, but they most frequently involve the lymph nodes, which are part of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a network of tubes throughout the body that drain fluid, called lymph, which leaks from the blood vessels into the tissues and empties back into the bloodstream. Depending on the subtype of disease, lymphoma could be a very slow-growing cancer that might not require treatment at all. Conversely, other lymphomas may be fastgrowing and aggressive, requiring immediate treatment. Thus, it is important to visit with a specialist who can confirm the actual subtype of lymphoma at diagnosis since it will be significant to managing the cancer. There are other causes of enlarged lymph nodes that should be considered, such as viral and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, or other cancers. In many cases, patients present to their primary care providers with enlarged lymph nodes and receive treatment with a course of antibiotics. However, if the lymph nodes do not respond to treatment, other causes, such as lymphoma or other cancers, should be considered. A cancer diagnosis can be scary for anyone, but there is a lot of encouraging news in the lymphoma space. Although the main first-line treatment for most lymphomas is still chemotherapy and immunotherapy, many new advancements in recent years have improved the outcomes for many patients. The most recent treatment advances for lymphomas include, but is not limited to: The introduction of chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T), which are T cells that are genetically engineered to attack cancer cells when reintroduced to the body. The addition of CAR-T, as well as other cellular based therapy, has significantly improved the outcomes of patients with relapsed or refractory diseases. A significant number of clinical trials are focusing on studying different CAR-T constructs and other types of cellular therapies in different lymphoma types. This is transforming the way we used to treatment lymphoma, which was mainly based on chemotherapy. Targeted therapies have been approved for certain cancers and are being studied for others. A new class of antibodies is being evaluated and has shown good results in many types of lymphomas. There are many other advances that are expected to soon change the landscape for lymphoma and cancer treatment. It is always advisable and strongly recommended to seek a second opinion with a lymphoma specialist when receiving a new diagnosis of lymphoma. A lymphoma specialist can partner with a local oncologist to deliver the best care to patients diagnosed with lymphoma. Establishing care at a cancer center with a lymphoma specialist who can guide your treatment plan and offer you appropriate clinical trials is of utmost importance and should be considered in all patients. The risk of recurrence differs by the type of lymphoma, and follow-up after treatment should be individualized based on the type of lymphoma. Patients who develop enlarged lymph nodes that do not resolve with antibiotic treatment should be evaluated for possible cancer. Biopsy of the lymph nodes to examine the tissue for cancer is the next step. Due to the complexity, a multidisciplinary cancer center that has a dedicated hematology or lymphoma practice is a great place to start to ensure all possibilities are reviewed. — Muhamad Alhaj Moustafa, M.D., Hematology/Oncology, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida Mayo Clinic What is lymphoma? health Hair loss can be devastating for women, but the condition can also signal additional health problems. An American Academy of Dermatology expert offers information about the types of hair loss seen in women with darker skin tones, common types of medical conditions associated with hair loss and treatment options. "Research shows that women who experience hair loss can also have other medical conditions like diabetes, acne and breast cancer," said Dr. Valerie Callender, professor of dermatology at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. "By recognizing the signs of hair loss and seeing your dermatologist as soon as possible, you may be able to limit the progression, hold on to the hair you have, and discover any other underlying medical conditions you may have," she said in an academy news release. One condition -- central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) -- causes hair loss in the center of the scalp. This is the most common type of hair loss seen in women with darker skin tones, affecting nearly 15% of Black women. Early detection is important because CCCA can cause scarring by destroying hair follicles. Once the hair follicle scars completely, regrowth becomes difficult and hair loss can be permanent. A dermatologist can diagnose this condition and work on a treatment plan, which can include antibiotics, topical steroid medication or corticosteroid injections, offering pain relief and freedom from itching. It can also prevent scarring from getting worse. Breast cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure are common among Black women with CCCA, Callender said. A dermatologist may be able to provide a woman with information on whether the hair loss may be symptom of another disease. Female pattern hair loss is also common, affecting millions of women of all skin tones. With this hereditary condition, the hair thins mainly on the top of the scalp. It usually starts with a widening of the center hair part. Many women with female pattern hair loss also have acne because of increased hormones, Callender said. Menopause and high blood pressure are also common as female pattern hair loss progresses. A possible treatment for this is minoxidil, which can reduce hair loss, stimulate hair growth and strengthen existing strands of hair. You can buy products containing this at the drug store, but a dermatologist may be able to provide you with a higher dosage available with a prescription. Hairstyles that tightly pull the hair can cause traction alopecia, which is common in women with darker skin tones due to hair styling. "One of the first things I ask my patients who have a history of braids is if it hurts when their hair is braided," Callender said. "Getting your hair done shouldn't hurt, so if they have pain, it's an indicator that they could be developing traction alopecia." A person can still maintain a sense of style, but with a looser 'do or by avoiding frequent use of styles that pull hair. Ingredients in hair products are also important, Callender said. While women with darker skin tones, particularly those of African descent, have hair that tends to be coarse, dry and fragile, some shampoos for dandruff and other scalp disorders can further dry out hair, leading to breakage. Shampoos and hair products should contain ingredients that moisturize hair such as vitamins A and E, jojoba oil and shea butter. "When treatments are not effective to prevent hair loss, a permanent solution is to consider a hair transplant, which creates naturallooking results," Callender said. "Hair transplants are most effective in patients with traction alopecia and female pattern hair loss. While patients with CCCA aren't always ideal candidates for a hair transplant due to scarring, it is possible for them to have success. A board-certified dermatologist can determine if a hair transplant is the right option." By Cara Murez Hair loss in women may signal other health conditions t r n r, e e. d. d d u e n e o e e al d d o n e 4 o or ut rs, d on ko

18 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F S t A d b s im ( v fa s t in t r U o a S a s in W t W c p Is fo T fr Y ir U e s I i i S w a p f 1 a b m d w a n c n o A e c g w o S c Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is wrong on his facts, but completely on point with his broader messaging. Both can be true. And if that is confusing, then try delving into an honest historical reading of the relationship between the United States and Mexico, because the cause of so much bloodshed and violence in Mexico is North America’s drug addictions and the guns we manufacture, which are then trafficked to Mexico. This point, which López Obrador tried to expound on after a gaff of major inaccuracy, deserves attention. Mexico and the U.S. are inextricably linked by soil, blood, tears, traditions and in many instances, the very DNA of our people. It will always be so. It is a love/hate relationship. Our problems and our strengths co-exist, each complicit, one feeding off the other, for better and for worse. We know each other. We study each other. We just fail to act on the information. So it was almost comical when López Obrador claimed that Mexico was safer than the U.S., before also noting that the hyperfocus of conservative politicians north of his border, aided by shady media, are embarking on “pure, vile manipulation.” "Mexico is safer than the United States," López Obrador insisted in a March 13 news briefing for reporters, a weekly event. "There is no problem in traveling safely in Mexico," he added. He’s a liar on that point. Two days before, in the beautiful Guanajuato, 10 people died and five were wounded when gunmen opened fire in a bar. Before this article will find its way to eyes online, more will die in Mexico by gun violence, taken with some mercy if they die quickly and not so if torture is used. This is an absolute given because of the strength of the drug cartels, their indiscriminate use of gunfire to keep people in check and how they have long been grafted to many of the nation’s influential politicians and law enforcement officials. Corruption is endemic. But it will be, and has long been, mostly Mexicans who will die, or simply disappear, adding to the current 100,000 logged as "missing." As other media have widely reported, the homicide rate in Mexico is Yes, Mexico is safe, if it can avoid the havoc rooted in America's drug and firearm dilemma with Mary Sanchez Readers can reach Mary Sanchez at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @msanchezcolumn. President Joe Biden has announced he will raise “some taxes” in the budget he is proposing to Congress. Biden again claims no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay more taxes. The federal government receives record amounts of revenue, but spends and borrows in ways that add to the astronomical and unsustainable $31 trillion debt. As The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial, “The Internal Revenue Service recently released its income and tax statistics for 2020 and they show the top 1 percent of earners paid 42.3 percent of the country’s income taxes…a two-decade high in the share of taxes the 1 percent pay.” The president repeats the false claim that “the rich” aren’t paying their “fair share.” Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., is partially right when he says “You can’t basically just tax your way out of debt. You can’t borrow your way out of debt and you can’t cut your way out of debt." In fact, you can cut the debt by spending and taxing less. Let’s start with improper payments made by federal agencies. According to reporting by The Washington Examiner, such payments totaled $175 billion just in 2019, as calculated by the government website PaymentAccuracy.gov. That’s equivalent to $15 billion per month. This amount doesn’t include the $2.25 trillion in taxpayer and borrowed money spent on improper payments, including millions sent to dead people. Auditors for O p e n T h e B o o k s . c o m discovered the most wasteful federal programs were Medicaid, Medicare and the Earned Income Tax Credit. In just these three programs, reports The Examiner, 69 percent, or $121 billion – were improper payments. Then there was the money wasted on COVID19 relief, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). NBC News reported “many who participated in what prosecutors are calling the largest fraud in U.S. history — the theft of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money intended to help those harmed by the coronavirus pandemic — couldn’t resist purchasing luxury automobiles…mansions, private jet flights and swanky vacations.” They came into their riches, the network reported, “by participating in what experts say is the theft of as much as $80 billion — or about 10 percent — of the $800 billion handed out in…the PPP. That’s on top of the $90 billion to $400 billion believed to have been stolen from the $900 billion COVID unemployment relief program — at least half taken by international fraudsters…And another $80 billion potentially pilfered from a separate COVID disaster relief program.” There’s more. During the pandemic, Congress approved more than $3.5 trillion in emergency funds that went to individuals and businesses. Of that amount, hundreds of billions reportedly were fraudulently paid out. The Hill newspaper reported a few of many examples of fraud that should outrage members of Congress and might if they weren’t spending other people’s money. It cites eight people in Georgia who allegedly stole $30 million by filing unemployment claims for 5,000 people. Four people in Texas allegedly swindled $18 million in PPP loans and were trying to steal $17 million more. The inspector general for the Department of Labor has reported that $163 billion of the $794 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance was improperly paid out. Independent analyst, reports The Hill, have suggested that number could be closer to $400 billion with 70 percent leaving the country and lining the pockets of criminals from China, Nigeria and Russia, among others. As the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill., quipped “A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” Except today it’s a trillion here and there. Congressional Republicans have an obligation to taxpayers to uncover more fraud. They should also reform the main drivers of debt – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Taxes need to be cut, not raised, to deprive the Washington beast of revenue they waste. Spending should be substantially reduced, bureaucratic, dysfunctional and unnecessary government agencies eliminated, and as much misspent money recovered as possible. All of this should be an issue in next year’s campaign. Read his lips: more new taxes with Cal Thomas Readers may email Cal Thomas at [email protected]. Look for Cal Thomas’ new book “America’s Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the Future of the United States” my turn President Joe Biden, left, joins President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a welcome ceremony as part of the '2023 North American Leaders' Summit at Palacio Nacional on Jan. 9, 2023, in Mexico City. Mary Sanchez joins Happenings Q&A on Thu. Apr. 6th at 12:30 on AM1050 WLIP. U.S. President Joe Biden waves as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday, March 5, 2023. continues on next page

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 19 How did the United States of America become the Dis-United State of Amerca, the "i" purposely deleted? One answer is both part cause and partial solution. Along the way, ideas, imagination and innovation (I3) have disappeared from view, replaced by ideology, fake and alternative news, slogans and a disregard for truth and fact metastasizing into the DUSA. Whether the proper use of I3 can return the DUSA to the USA should concentrate our thinking Alone, ideas, imagination and innovation are neutral. Some may be good. Others are not. But I3 without substance is fantasy or insanity. Lord Ismay, one of Winston Churchill's most trusted advisers during World War II, had this complaint. Of 100 of the prime minister's ideas, Ismay believed three or four might be worthwhile. The rest, however, ranged from dangerous to useless. Yet, given the seemingly irreparable divisions in the United States on virtually every political, cultural, societal and economic issue, what is Plan B? More chaos? Is DUSA correctable, short of a miracle or another revolution? Or, is DUSA out of control? Told that Britain was ruined after "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne lost the Battle of Saratoga to the colonists in 1777, the great Scots economist Adam Smith replied to his baleful student: "There is a lot of ruin in a nation, my boy!" Perhaps that applies today. How then might the I3 be implemented? One approach is to ask the most basic questions to provoke answers bordering on the absurd to generate action. Then, having galvanized a reaction, the equally or even more difficult task of implementation must occur. How many revolutionary ideas foundered on a lack of follow-up? First, why was the U.S. government unable to deal with a Chinese "spy" balloon flying across America with competence, confidence and a sense of urgency? Second, why is the U.S. government incapable of balancing a budget while allowing the national debt to continue to soar to over $30 trillion, or 150% of GDP? Third, why if the 2024 presidential elections were held today, would the two most likely candidates be 82 and 76 years of age, respectively, and who a strong majority of Americans believe are too old for the demands of that office? Is that a sign of a healthy political society or a geriatric one? And recall what happened to the USSR when it was ruled by geriatrics. How might I3 work? Consider three possible cases. In an age of Netflix, Amazon Prime and continuously streamed content, why not call on Hollywood, the best science fiction writers and the nation's war colleges to develop possible crisis scenarios -- from an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, to a potentially existential zoonotic pandemic -- along with solutions and options? Then catalog what could be thousands of possible catastrophes into a library provided to the White House for use in an emergency. The White House can also be better organized for crisis management. Assuming that were done, the senior watch officer would refer to the catalog and pick the appropriate scenario for an unidentified balloon and read on. About debt, the United States is spending $5 trillion on fixing and modernizing its infrastructure. But instead of merely dispersing money, why not create a national infrastructure bank augmented with private funds to invest and to be repaid with interest? During the 2008 financial crash, the $800 billion Troubled Asset Relief Plan bailed out the banks and was not only fully repaid, it made money. Last, if the electoral process can be remedied, universal voting may be it, meaning every eligible citizen must go to the polls. Whether each votes is not mandatory. However unless or until a large majority of Americans exercise the right to vote, a minority will select a president. And that is how an 82-year-old faces an opponent six years younger. Too often, it is asserted that the United States is at an inflection point, or a hinge of history. But that observation may fit. Exacerbating the irreconcilable partisanship here, never before has the United States faced two competitors or adversaries simultaneously that were a near economic peer with nuclear weapons and an energy-rich nuclear power that just invaded a neighbor, shattering nearly 80 years of relative stability and peace in Europe. Ideas, imagination and innovation will not address all or even most of the clear and present dangers that lie ahead. However, please let me know what might prove to be a better approach. Or are America and Americans prepared to accept a permanent DUSA? Ideas, imagination, innovation needed in Dis-United States of Amerca with Harlan Ullman my turn Dr Harlan Ullman is senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council, the prime author of "shock and awe" and the upcoming book "The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large." Harlan Ullman joins Happenings Q&A on Thu., Apr 6th at 1pm on AM1050 WLIP. Why is the U.S. government incapable of balancing a budget while allowing the national debt to continue to soar to over $30 trillion, or 150% of GDP? about 28 per 100,000 people. In the U.S., the figure is about 7 per 100,000. Still, fear and trepidation about traveling south of the border cannot be easily measured. Nor should it be dismissed. And López Obrador wasn’t really concerned about his own people dying, not at that press conference at least. He was addressing negative pushback because of the terrifying ordeal four African American travelers encountered in the border city of Matamoros. The group was kidnapped. Two were found dead and the other two survived (one had been shot multiple times in the legs). The travelers crossed the border so one member of the group could receive cosmetic surgery. It’s believed that drug cartels were responsible. A Mexican woman was also caught up in the violence and killed. She was literally in the wrong place (her own country) at the wrong time. The concern this violence ignited is understandable, but the tone taken by some U.S. politicians is not. Six of Mexico’s 32 states have been marked “do not travel to” and another seven fall into the “reconsider travel” category issued by the U.S. State Department. “U.S. citizens should exercise increased caution in the downtown areas of popular spring break locations including Cancún, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark,” the department added. As for the rest of López Obrador’s accusations, they deserve far deeper contemplation. An estimated 70 to 90 percent of the firearms in Mexico are manufactured in the U.S. And when Mexico tried to sue U.S. gun manufacturers those firms were shielded by a U.S. law that protects the industry from bearing much, if any, responsibility for the violence those guns inflict. The Trace reported on American-made firearms cited in Mexico’s allegations, detailing “every firearm recovered by the Mexican military between 2010 and May of 2020 – almost 125,000 weapons,” which included “machine guns, grenade launchers, and tens of thousands of pistols and rifles.” Further, North America is the prime market for drug cartels. Our nation has not gotten serious about fighting drug addiction, which so often has roots in mental health. Look at how the pharmaceuticals have been pushed onto Americans. Opioids were a big money maker for drug companies, often oblivious to the spreading addiction their products caused. Before that, it was the folly of trying to fight a “war on drugs,” as if the enemy was another country’s army, rather than our own addictions. Fentanyl mostly arrives in the U.S. through ports, not via the southern border. Good luck finding a GOP politician – adept at pontification – who will stick to that reality. It’s far easier to hype Mexico as the sole bearer of responsibility. And now, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to name cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and to allow our military to go into Mexico to bust up drug labs, a horrible idea that brazenly disrespects Mexico’s sovereignty. Our drug enforcement experts could have a much bigger impact in Mexico by cooperating with Mexican authorities, especially if latter weren’t so corrupt. But the drug problem is so cyclical, and so intertwined with our own reality. The most boastful and often pompous voices on each side of the border, rarely, if ever, tell the truth or speak in full truths. It will remain a distant goal to support, fund and insist on genuine cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, which is what it would take for solace to reign on both sides of the border. Sanchez continued from page 18 ial aw ic. ng ho ar, nt g." ve he is bo re o of y, d. ot e of e. e d, al ry es h d n ’s ez an y. age

20 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which catered to technology startups and the venture capital firms that financed them, was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). (The FDIC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that protects customers of insured banks against the loss of their deposits, up to $250,000, per depositor, if an insured bank fails.) SVB was the secondlargest bank failure on record and has led many to question the stability of other, similar small to medium-sized niche banks that provided funding to high growth sectors like tech and crypto. Although the SVB story is still unfolding, there are important lessons that we can learn. Know where your deposits are Every banking consumer should keep their money at FDIC insured institutions and individual account balances should remain under $250,000. The FDIC provides separate insurance coverage for different categories of legal ownership, (i.e., joint or trust accounts). The FDIC notes: “This means that a bank customer who has multiple accounts may qualify for more than $250,000 in insurance coverage if the customer’s funds are deposited in different ownership categories and the requirements for each ownership category are met.” If you are unclear about whether or not your various accounts are covered by FDIC, contact your bank to learn more. Since the FDIC began operations in 1934, no depositor has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured deposits. Talk about peace of mind! Reaching for higher interest rates involves more risk As the tech sector boomed on the back of low interest rates and abundant funding, many of the companies that held accounts at SVB prospered and were able to deposit a lot of money at the bank. SVB did what many banks do: It kept what it thought was an adequate amount of cash on hand to meet any withdrawal demands from its depositors and used “extra cash” to purchase U.S. Treasuries. To boost the amount of interest they earned, SVB bought longer dated bonds, which are often more price sensitive to interest rate moves. When interest went up, SVB showed a paper loss on their bonds. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but as tech and start-up companies came under pressure over the past 18 months, they needed to withdraw their deposits at SVB to finance their operations. To meet those depositor demands, the bank was forced to sell their government bonds prior to maturity — and at a loss — to free up money. SVB management forgot a core investing concept: higher yield can increase risk. ZIRP hurts For years, the Federal Reserve maintained a Zero Percent Interest Rate Policy (“ZIRP”). When rates remain low for long periods of time, it encourages growth, but also can lead to outsized risk taking. Now that the Fed has reversed course and is hiking interest rates to beat back inflation, there are unintended consequences, like a bank being forced to sell its “safe” bonds at a loss to meet its obligations. Bigger is better for banks After the financial crisis of 2008, the government stepped up the requirements for large institutions, which forces them to keep more cash on hand than smallmidsize banks. Additionally, large banks have a more diversified customer and funding base, which can shield them from such shocks. Watered-down regulation can bite back SVB was one of the small to mid-sized banks that lobbied the government to ease the post-financial crisis banking regulations. In 2018, those efforts bore fruit, as the Trump Administration reduced regulations and oversight for banks with assets less than $250 billion. Perhaps with more oversight and higher capital and liquidity requirements, SVB may have avoided this disastrous outcome. Lessons from Silicon Valley Bank’s failure with Jill Schlesinger jill on money The gender pay gap, which is the difference between the earnings of men and women, has been stuck for years. In 1982, women earned just 65 cents to each dollar earned by men. The differential narrowed, but since 2002, the numbers have barely budged. In 2022, U.S. women typically earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. It would be great if there were a single cause of the differential, because then policy makers and employers might be able to craft a solution. But the Department of Labor has found “that the majority of the gap between men and women’s wages cannot be explained through measurable differences between workers, such as age, education, industry or work hours. It is highly likely that at least some of this unmeasured portion is the result of discrimination, but it is impossible to capture exactly in a statistical model.” Here’s what we know: Women get paid less than men, despite the job that they hold (“Regardless of occupation group, women always have lower average earnings than men”); the types of jobs that women dominate (i.e., childcare workers, domestic workers, and home health aides) pay less in general; and parenthood seems to positively impact men’s wages, but for mothers, not so much. It makes sense that many younger mothers tend to work fewer hours or take time out of the labor force, which can set them back temporarily. Conversely, Pew Research finds that “fathers are more likely to be in the labor force – and to work more hours each week – than men without children at home. This is linked to an increase in the pay of fathers – a phenomenon referred to as the “fatherhood wage premium” – and tends to widen the gender pay gap.” In addition to the blatant fairness issue, earning lower wages also means that women are robbed of the ability to save and invest for themselves and their families, which leads to a long-term wealth gap. Until the system changes, it is incumbent on women to advocate for themselves – and to ask for what they deserve. In my book, The Great Money Reset, I lay out five steps to “BULLY Your Boss”: Button up your big ask Before approaching your boss, clarify to yourself what you want…make sure you’re considering the full array of possible requests you might make. Understand the full picture: Lay the groundwork for a successful pitch by doing some research… confirm that your requests are reasonable — or, on the flip side, ambitious enough. Gather various proof points and insights that will support you when you’re making the pitch to your boss. Lose the ego (sort of) In delivering your pitch, come across as bold and confident, but don’t appear arrogant, antagonize your boss, or put them on the defensive. Instead of focusing solely on you, keep your boss and their needs firmly in mind even as you convey your own desires. Leave time to practice the conversation Deliver your pitch in front of a mirror or have someone take a video of you delivering it. Better yet, do what I do and role-play the conversation with a friend or relative, having them play your boss. Don’t yuck it up Even with solid preparation, you can never be sure how your conversation with your boss will go. Avoid giving your boss an ultimatum (“I’m leaving if you don’t give me XYZ”) when your softer entreaties fail to bear fruit. Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is a CBS News business analyst. A former options trader and CIO of an investment advisory firm, she welcomes comments and questions at [email protected]. Check her website at www.jillonmoney.com The gender wage gap is stuck with Jill Schlesinger A security guard with Silicon Valley Bank moves members of the media from in front of the bank office on March 13, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. Days after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, customers are lining up to try and retrieve their funds from the failed bank. The Silicon Valley Bank failure is the second largest in U.S. history de ye fe w ur en ca an th fri Th fro yo A fe ev on co th m In fri ge In oc re w to th do to ca in fro ba m th m ne ad in co in ho pr ca ev en m P w I H

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 21 ly, e d n h ll at o s 8, as n d h n. ht d B s he or ay id er ur ss ur m me er Dear Cathy, I love cats dearly. Twice in the last 30 years, I have had a male and female from different litters when the female cat suddenly urinated in our bed. I always ended up giving one of the cats away. I learned my lesson and now have male cats only. Would you please address this issue because now my friend has the same problem? They adopted a female cat from the shelter, then added a young male to the family. Almost immediately, the female cat began to urinate everywhere. Short of giving one of the cats away, what could she do? Incidentally, my friend has three litter boxes, but her male marks all of them. — Ingrid, Las Vegas, Nevada Dear Ingrid, I hope your friend’s first instinct is not to get rid of the female cat. Inappropriate elimination occurs in both sexes for many reasons, which can be dealt with by an owner committed to figuring out what is causing the problem. Here’s why her cat may be doing it and what she can do to address it: To begin, any change in a cat’s environment can result in inappropriate elimination, from adding a new cat, dog, or baby to the family to a family member working longer hours than usual. So, her female cat is most likely reacting to the new male cat. To help her adjust, tell your friend to introduce feline pheromone collars for both cats and plugin pheromones for around the house. They don’t solve the problem but can provide a calmer environment as everyone adjusts. Next, she needs to use an enzymatic cleaner to clean the mattress and then put on a mattress cover. Tell her to close the bedroom door to keep the cat off the mattress when she can’t supervise. She should start playing with her female cat on the bed, and giving her treats when doing so, so she learns to reassociate the bed with something positive. Another reason for the inappropriate elimination may be litter box placement, the litter itself, or the male cat marking the boxes. She can sprinkle baking soda to freshen it up and add a litter attractant to lure her back to the box. The litter boxes should be placed where the female cat will feel safe from an ambush by the other cat. At the same time, make sure the male cat is not blocking the female from using the litter boxes. If he is, he needs to be shooed away and redirected with play. Both cats should be fixed if they are not already. While not as likely, she should still rule out a health problem with her veterinarian. Both male and female cats can have urinary infections, bladder stones, and cystitis, which are painful and cause many cats to eliminate in inappropriate places. But I am pretty sure her female cat is just stressed from the new cat in the house and needs some patience as she adjusts. Dear Cathy, My neighbor recently adopted a three-year-old male German Shepherd named Duke. I’m a neighbor who lives close by, is/was the pet sitter, and have visited Duke about three times. The poor thing seems nervous, paces all over the house, barks a lot, and when left alone, and seems very hyper even when in a crate (new to him) or trying to connect with an older unfriendly dog in the family. My main concern is for myself: Upon me leaving his residence, Duke gets mad and gets closer to me, barking wildly and looking scary! The owners immediately put him in the crate or a bedroom until I’m gone. How can this dog be helped? — Joyce, Connecticut Dear Joyce, Things may be moving too fast for this dog. The dog is fearful and anxious, and that is why he’s reacting this way. The family can’t let the dog scare and intimidate visitors to the home though. They need to talk to a veterinarian, veterinary behaviorist, or animal behaviorist to assess the dog’s behavior and lay out a plan to help the dog adjust to his new home and get comfortable meeting new people. He should also attend obedience classes to expose him to new people in a safe setting. During the training period, the family can introduce overthe-counter calming chews into his daily routine and a canine pheromone collar and/or canine pheromone plug-ins for around the house to tamp down his nervous energy. Until the dog makes progress, the dog should be placed in another room when there are visitors. Pet World with Cathy Rosenthal Is your cat urinating in bed? Here are some reasons why As well as being a recuring guest on Happenings Q&A, Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 30 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to [email protected]. animals Pet pig turning heads with skateboarding skills A family's pet pig is turning heads in his owners' Illinois town after picking up an unusual hobby: skateboarding. Norbert, a 150-pound black-and-white pig belonging to Vincent and Alicen Baran, has become a familiar sight to Buffalo Grove residents after learning to ride a skateboard. "People just really enjoy seeing a pig do things that normally pigs don't do," Vincent Baran told WLS-TV. "I took one of my old skateboards and put it out and literally within seven days he was able to get his hooves on the board and push with his other hooves." The couple said Norbert is an expert at several tricks commonly associated with dogs, including shaking hands and spinning, but the skateboarding gets him the most attention. Dolphins pay surprise visit to paddleboaters off California coast A pair of dolphins paid a surprise visit to two paddleboaters off the California coast just seconds after one of them asked: "Wouldn't that be rad if a dolphin came over and jumped?" Bill Clements, who posted video of the encounter to TikTok, said he and friend Justin Kezmoh were out in an inflatable paddleboat off Dana Point when he expressed his wish to see a dolphin in person. "Wouldn't that be rad if a dolphin came over and jumped?" Clements says in the video. Seconds later, a dolphin emerges from the water right next to the boat. The ocean mammal was soon joined by a second dolphin. "He was listening to us," Clements remarks when the dolphins appear in the video. "Just call me the dolphin whispere," Clements wrote in the video's description. in the news Drug-resistant 'superbugs' may spread between people, pets In more bad news about antibiotic resistance, new research suggests that people and their pets may be able to transmit multidrug-resistant germs to one another. Still, cases of cross-transmission are rare and it's not clear if pets are giving germs to people or people are giving germs to their pets, the study authors noted. "In urban areas in high-income countries, pets do not seem to be a multidrug-resistant reservoir of high importance," said lead researcher Dr. Carolin Hackmann, from Charité University Hospital Berlin, in Germany. "Still, good hygiene practices in contact with pets should be kept up to further prevent transmission of multidrugresistant organisms." The study can't prove that people and pets made each other sick, only that both shared a common disease and Hackmann said she wouldn't recommend that "vulnerable persons get rid of their pets, since transmission was very rare." Using nasal and rectal swabs, Hackmann and her colleagues looked for the antibacterial-resistant diseases methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), 3rd generation cephalosporin- resistant Enterobacterales (3GCRE) and carbapenemresistant Enterobacterales (CRE), in nearly 2,900 hospitalized patients between June 2019 and September 2022. More than 600 pet owners then were asked to send throat and stool swab samples of their pets; of these, 300 sent samples from 400 pets. Of these samples, 15% of dogs and 5% of cats had at least one multidrugresistant germ. In four cases, these bacteria matched the owner's bacteria. But only one of the pairs was genetically identical in a dog and its owner, the researchers found. The findings are scheduled to be presented April 15 at the annual meeting of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, in Copenhagen. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. "For years, people have implicated dogs and cats as carriers of MRSA and group A strep, but they're rarely thought to be a significant fomite [likely to carry infection] in transmissions between people and animals. It can happen, but it happens rarely," said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y. Farber believes there is a real danger of disease transmission between people and animals, but not from household pets. "There is no question that zoonosis, which is infections from animals in humans, has become a very big problem as has been seen in COVID and avian flu," he said. It is not the interaction between people and pets that worries Farber, but rather between people and animals on commercial farms and even in the wild. "It's those types of interactions that scare me a lot. Because that's where a jump could occur," he said. "Those types of transmissions are frightening and scary in terms of multidrugresistant organisms."

22 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 F A new study finds that we really do need carbohydrates. For years, carbs have taken a bad rap as the popularity of Atkins and keto diets soared. The truth is carbs aren't bad: Complex carbs -- carbs with fiber -- are very much needed in a healthy diet pattern. The study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, looked at data on food and nutrient intake and markers of metabolic syndrome from respondents in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999- 2018. It included 19,078 respondents who were over 20 years old, had reliable and complete data on food and nutrient intake and markers of metabolic syndrome, and were not pregnant or breastfeeding. Researchers, led by Dakota Dustin, a doctoral Student in the Department of Human Sciences at Ohio State University, found that carbohydrate intakes below recommendations (less than 45% of calories), with a high intake of fat, were associated with higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is characterized as having three of the following conditions: elevated w a i s t ? c i rc u m f e re n c e , elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL (considered good cholesterol), elevated blood pressure or elevated plasma glucose. Over one-third of adults in the U.S. have metabolic syndrome, and dietary carbohydrate intake may modify the likelihood of developing this condition. Researchers felt there is a lack of consistent evidence demonstrating the relationship between carbohydrate intake that falls below recommendations and metabolic syndrome. Their findings showed those who had a carbohydrate intake below recommendations had 1.067 times greater odds of having metabolic syndrome compared to those who met carbohydrate recommendations. High intake of fat of any class was associated with higher odds of metabolic syndrome in those who had a carbohydrate intake below recommendations. A healthy diet should consist of 45% to 55% carbohydrates, 20% to 35% fat and the remainder protein. Carbohydrates are present in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, nuts and seeds. The best-quality carbohydrates are those with fiber, considered complex carbohydrates. The bottom line? We all need complex carbohydrates -- full of fiber -- in a healthy dietary pattern. Restricting or eliminating carbohydrates can lead to other health problems. Q and A Q: What is processed meat? A: Processed meat is any meat that has been preserved by salting, curing, smoking, fermentation or dehydration. What all of these processes have in common is the use of nitrites, which block the growth of bacteria and prevent spoilage. The Dietary Guidelines recommend we limit intake of processed meats because eating even small amounts is associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer and cardiovascular disease. Examples of processed meats include bacon, chipped or corned beef, deli meats, ham, hot dogs, jerky, pancetta, pepperoni, prosciutto, salami, sausage and smoked meats. Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian with SIU Med School in Springfield, Ill. For comments or questions, contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRd. food & recipes Charlyn Fargo joins Happenings Q&A on Fri. Apr. 7th at 1:30 on AM1050 WLIP. Nutrition News with Charlyn Fargo The Case for Carbohydrates Servings: 4 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided 4 (6 ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 1 lemon, cut into wedges 1/4 cup dry white wine 2 teaspoons butter 1/4 cup thinly sliced onion 1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved 1/3 cup lower-sodium, fat-free chicken broth Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine 1 teaspoon oil, minced garlic, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Loosen skin on thighs by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub garlic mixture under loosened skin. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Add 1 teaspoon oil; swirl to coat. Add chicken thighs to pan, skin side down; cook 4 minutes. Turn thighs over; top with lemon wedges. Place pan in oven; bake for 18 minutes or until done. Remove chicken and lemon from pan; discard lemon. Discard drippings but do not wipe out pan. Return pan to mediumhigh. Add wine, cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Remove pan from heat; add butter, swirling until butter melts. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add remaining salt and pepper and Brussels sprouts; cook 8 minutes or until tendercrisp. Add broth to pan; cover and cook 2 minutes. Place chicken thighs on plates; serve with Brussels sprouts and sauce. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Serves 4 (serving size: 1 chicken thigh, 1 cup Brussels sprouts and 2 tablespoon sauce). Per serving: 345 calories; 28 grams protein; 13 grams carbohydrates; 20 grams fat (6 grams saturated); 5 grams fiber; 3 grams sugars (0 grams added); 434 milligrams sodium. Roasted Chicken Thighs w/Brussel Sprouts Make-Ahead French Toast Casserole Serves 6 to 8 Note: We developed this recipe using Martin’s Potato Bread, which has 16 slices per loaf, so you’ll need to buy two loaves. With other brands, it may also be necessary to trim the slices to fit six in a single layer. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 3/4 cup packed (5 1/4 ounces) brown sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon salt 18 slices potato sandwich bread 2 1/2 cups whole milk 6 large eggs 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted Powdered sugar 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with softened butter. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in bowl. 2. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared dish. Place 6 bread slices (use bread heels here) in an even layer at the bottom of the dish. Brush bread with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar mixture. 3. Place 6 bread slices in a single layer over the first layer, brush with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, then sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar mixture. Place remaining 6 bread slices over the previous layer and brush with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter. 4. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and eggs together until well combined. Pour milk mixture over bread and press lightly to submerge. Sprinkle with almonds and the remaining heaping 3 tablespoons of the sugar mixture. 5. Bake until the casserole is slightly puffed and golden brown and bubbling around the edges, about 30 minutes. Transfer casserole to a wire rack, brush with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, and let cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. MAKE AHEAD: The assembled casserole, minus the almonds and remaining heaping 3 tablespoons sugar mixture, can be covered and refrigerated for up to 12 hours. When ready to cook, sprinkle with almonds and sugar mixture. Bake as directed in Step 5. French toast casserole is an ideal family breakfast If you’re making breakfast for a crowd or a bigger family, forgo traditional French toast for a breakfast casserole that’s just as delicious and easier to make for a group. We layered potato bread (which held up better than regular sandwich bread) with a brown sugar–cinnamon mixture and butter, and then poured a creamy custard over the top. We finished by sprinkling the casserole with sliced almonds. The result? A large dish filled with layers of tender, sweet French toast — ready all at once. By America’s Test Kitchen RE PL FO Lis G CO KE Ge the co me is join Ke an spe lan to tim inte at LIO so Ra sta We Sc Ha Mo Ma Un FREE CLASSIFIEDS!

0 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 SMART READER March 23, 2023 23 of n of e d e es ke ts ll h r d e. d n, li y, ni, e t Look Who’s Getting Married! SR082419 Wedding Cakes Ours Come in all shapes, sizes and prices. We’re creative yet cost effective. 3526 Roosevelt Rd, Kenosha, WI 53142 (262) 652-3984 Being Sweet to You Is Our Business! DT2019V1 5617 - 6th Ave. Kenosha 657-7673 M-F: 9AM-5PM Sat: 10AM-2PM Delivery Available www.asummersgardenflorist.com Daniel William Di Maria Jr & Katelyn Christina Daly Darquis Delancy Byers & Milagro Martinez Jennifer Ann Hamann & Nicole Lynn Jones Jonathan Daniel Luna & Kristin Barbara Zelms Eudy Marley Martinez Lucas & Ana Paola Lucas Lopez Deshaun Kajuan Caulton & Susanne Marie Lerma Loren Shehu Elizabeth Christine Wellman Miguel Angel Nungaray Gonzalez & Maria Natali Garcia Contreras Shane Anton Muellemann & Christine Marie Oswalt Sunrito Bhattacharya & Kara Christine Holther Brandon Kenneth Smith & Stacee Maree Schmidt Michael Denis Trusky Carter & Tarryn Ruth Frierson Juan Antonio Vega & Carmen Gabrielle Blanco Robert Paul Kroes & Ian Paul Anderson Derrick Paul Kronman & Nyssa Erin Depp James Paul Schwer & Gabriella Herminia Martinez Keith Alan Robinson & April Lynn Shearer Marriage Licenses March 6th - 17th, 2023 REMINDER: PLEASE RESUBMIT AD TO RUN FOR EACH ISSUE. Maximum 3 Listings Per Person. MISC G E R M A N CONVERSATIONALIST GROUP - KENOSHA/RACINE If you speak German or are enthusiastic about the German language and culture, come and join us. There are no membership fees and attendance is whenever you are available to join. Meetings will be held in the Kenosha and Racine area. This is an excellent group to practice speaking German as members' language skills are from beginners to advance and we all have a good time. Please contact me if you are interested in joining - Susan Blust at [email protected]. LIONS CLUB BINGO Come have some fun! Doors open at 4:00. Raffles, pull-tabs and pregames start at 6:45. Bingo 7:00-9pm. Wednesdays. 2700 9th St., Schlader Building, Winthrop Harbor. Food Sales. Model Train Show. Sunday, March 12. 9 am to 1 pm. Kenosha Union Club, 3030 39th Avenue. For more information call Bill @ 262-331-0392 FOR SALE SELLING MANY DVDS AND VHS TAPES OF VARIOUS GENRES. MAKE ME AN OFFER ON EACH OR THE TOTAL NUMBER YOU PURCHASE. 808-359-8474 A WICKER, WOODEN OAK BENCH WITH REMOVABLE CUSHION. MAKE ME AN OFFER; CAN TEXT PHOTOS. 808-359-8474 JASON/EMPIRE MODEL 218 7X35 BINOCULARS. FIELD 358 FT AT 1000 YDS. FULLYCOATED OPTICS, & CASE. NEVER USED. CASE HAS SHELF WEAR. $25.00262-620- 4301. IF NO ANSWER PLEASE LEAVE MESSAGE. COMPOND HUNTING BOW LEFT HANDED, SIGHTS, SILENCER, ARROWS, QUIVER, SOFT CARRYING CASE. $100.00 262- 620-4301 LEAVE MESSAGE IF NO ANSWER. COCA-COLA CRATE WOOD WAGON, Measures: 19-Inch Long. 14-Inch Wide. & 10-Inch High. Red Plastic Wheels Move. Which Are 5-Inch Around. Handle Is 14-Inch Long. Crate Says: Bottles: Jonesboro., Ark. Made Of Wood. Put In Yard, With Plants. Easy To Move Around. Colleen/262-748-4343. VINTAGE SOLID DARK BROWN WOOD ROCKER Strong & Heavy! Seat Measures: 21 By 18, And 2- Inch Thick. 40-Inch Tall, Counting Back Of Rocker. 18-Inch From Seat To Floor. 27-Inch Wide, At Widest Part (Rocker's Feet. Rock Baby Or Grandchild. Has Writing On Bottom, (Seat). $60, Obo! /Colleen-262-748-4343. BEANIE BABIES, large inventory, includes McDonald's Beanie Babies. Prices vary call (262) 654- 6485 DROP THAT DISH New 4k Indoor Antenna ! $80 ! 847-372-6722 ! MOVING: INDOOR- OUTDOOR, Walter e Smithe wicker set, roll top desk, misc household items, console cabinets, small couch. Call or text 508-813-1500. Kenosha area 3 DEUCE Andy Granatelli Aluminum Intake Manniford For Ford Flat Heads. Call 262-620 6301. Leave Message If No Answer. UPRIGHT LYON & HEALY PIANO FOR SALE $400. Call me at 262- 496-3503 between 4 PM and 8 PM or email me at [email protected] TIRED OF FRIED FISH? Steam or poach your fish whole! Stainless steel BIG steamer/poacher and SS serving tray only $45.00. Call Kent 262-960-0621. [email protected] NORMAN ROCKWELL PLATES $10 each Call 262-771-8764 Harley Davidson Jacket $200, Colleen Rybarik [email protected]. 262-748- 4343 WANTED. STREET PAVER BRICKS wanted Please call 262.697.3545 and leave a message. WANTED TO BUY: Vintage Movie Posters, Comic Books, LP Records, Vintage Toys, Horror VHS, Horror Memorabilia, Science Fiction Pulps & Magazines, Video Store Promotional Items. PH 262- 237-0318. WANTED TO BUY: Old Post Cards, B&W Photos, B&W Photo Albums, Vintage Advertising, Old Hunting Licenses & Advertising, Scrapbooks, Old Misc.Paper, Old Automobile Advertising, Fountain Pens, Gillette Razors & More. Local Collector/Neutral Safe & Secure Site to meet if desired. Cash Paid. Call or Text Stan 262- 496-1822 ARCADE DRIVERS SCHOOL is looking for classroom & driver instructors. Starting pay $17.00 per hour. If interested please call 262-637-9193 or email us at [email protected]. LOOKING FOR NURSES Aid for in home care. Call Barbara 262- 455-3953 SERVICES. TAX & MEDICARE EXPERT. Appointments only. Se Habla Español. 262.833.7070 CHINESE LANGUAGE / CALLIGRAPHY LESSONS: Fun, fascinating and very cool. Beginning and advanced - all ages! Text Dr. Tim at 520.704.3832. FOR RENT Finished Suite private, in-home entrance, in Kenosha. For details call between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM, 262-843- 1630. DRUM LESSONS Private instruction. Band, orchestra, marching and drum set. Rock and many other musical styles. Learn to read music. Call Tom for details. 262- 818-2869. PROFESSIONAL LED TEETH WHITENING for a fraction of the price! $99 at cabana tan spa. call to book: 262-843-2411. 20 minute session = a bright white smile! mycabanatan.com NURSING CARE /CONSULTATION: $35.00/hour. Call or text to (262)758- 1974 FAST COMPUTER SERVICE including network support, spyware removal, upgrades and PC repair. For friendly service with a smile, call Vikkex today! Phone (262-694-7746) BABYSITTING YOUNG LADY good with kids can watch 1 or 2 children call 262-620-4745 House cleaning woman + a bucket - reliable, dependable. Also clean vacant houses. Call for estimates - Sandy 262-221-2289 HOUSES AND OR business sun shine klean is having a special this month for first time customers free upholstery cleaning with at basic cleaning for only $39.95 262-287- 5103 CNAS TO JOIN wellness team at Barton of Zion, five star assisted living. Send resume pdifore@bartonhealthcare.org apply within at 3500 Sheridan Road Zion, IL 60099 847-872-1500 FREE HOME HEATING Fuel Oil Removal I will remove your unused home heating fuel oil for free..clean and safe . Inquire about tank removal also ... 262 818 1967 ..ask for dave TYPING. I am an experienced legal secretary with excellent typing skills wanting to type for you at home. Please contact Alicia at 256-658-4484. TAX & BOOKKEEPING. 30 Years experience Audits handld enrolled agent appointment only call 262- 595-8242 CAREGIVER SELF-EMPLOYED live-in caregiver with 20 years experience giving 24 hr. care references. Looking for job. If you need me, please call Teresa 262-497- 0502. CUT AWAY GRASS Edging to last - not stringline - will help drainage. All with cleanup and haul away. Just call 262-654-2509. YARD CLEAN UP Junk, brush, dog waste, anything to haul away. Just call262-654-2509. 1-866-PIANIST PIANO TUNER 17 years of experience in Racine, Kenosha, Walworth, & Lake Co. Website:pianist.vpweb.com AFFORDABLE HOME HEALTHCARE services. 1 hour minumum 24 hour care is available. Call 262-358-5619 for more information On services available. work AFFORDABLE CAREGIVER SERVICES for All Ages $18 HR. To inquire Call 262-358-7057 VEHICLES0 1997 FORD F-150 TRUCK WITH SNOW PLOWV-8, PS, PB, AUTO., 150K MILES CLEAN, $3500.00 [email protected] 2007 HYUNDAI SONATA SEE IN KENOSHA AT 4121-7TH. AVE. 53140 262-237-1343 RUSS CALL OR TEXT 212K MILES $2950 2012 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN SEE IN KENOSHA AT 4121-7TH. AVE. 53140 RUSS 262-237-1343 CALL OR TEXT NICE CAR AT A NICE PRICE $5450 174K MILES 2016 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY $6950 184K MILES SEE IN KENOSHA AT 4121-7TH. AVE. 53140 RUSS 262-237-1343 CALL OR TEXT NICE VAN AT A NICE PRICE 1997 FORD TRUCK F-150 WITH SNOW PLOW V-8, PS, PB, AUTO. 150K MILES, GOOD CONDITION $4000.00 OBO [email protected] FREE CLASSIFIEDS! E-mail your 170 character classified to: [email protected] Please include your contact information in the classified. (Name and Phone number / e-mail address) First 3 words will be boldface type. NO ANIMALS. • NO PERSONALS ALLOWED. CLASSIFIED DEADLINE IS MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2023 AT 12 NOON FREE CLASSIFIEDS! Employment/Opportunities • Lost & Found • Miscellaneous Real Estate • Rentals • Rummage Sales • Vehicles • Wanted

Senior Citizens Receive a 10% DISCOUNT SR121720 Your Ticket to Local Events 24 SMART READER March 23, 2023 FOR ADVERTISING RATES CALL 262-564-8800 032422 Call or email anytime! In person office visits by appointment only. Please call to schedule. 5401 60th St. Kenosha, WI 53144 262-657-6127 [email protected] Candy Soens Count your blessings...Let us help make sure they are covered. Happy Easter! Easter! Easter! Easter! Easter! Easter! Easter! At Dr. Lee’s office, our quality care, along with our sensible payments plans, ensure a bright dental future for you and your family. Your dental health is our main concern, and your comfort our priority. 032422 Thank you for your continued trust, and for the joy you bring to us! Happy Easter! Happy Easter! 3103-75th St. • 262-694-6055 Dr. Rand A. Lee Family Dentistry $65 022323 Offer ends 03-31-2023 032323