Columns

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Linda Toga, Esq.

THE FACTS: My grandson Frank is disabled and will likely need medical and financial assistance as an adult. I would like to name Frank and my other grandchildren as beneficiaries in my will, but I am concerned that doing so may make Frank ineligible for government assistance programs. 

THE QUESTION: How can I leave Frank money without interfering with whatever government benefits he may be receiving at the time of my death? 

THE ANSWER: The best way to provide financial support to Frank without making him ineligible for needs-based government benefits like Medicaid and Section 8 housing assistance is to direct your executor to put Frank’s bequest in a supplement needs trust, (SNT). 

An SNT is designed so that the trustee can use trust assets to supplement the government benefits that the disabled beneficiary may be receiving. Trust assets can be used to enhance the life and well-being of the beneficiary. They cannot, however, be used to pay for goods and/or services provided to the beneficiary by the government. 

For example, the trustee may pay for a disabled beneficiary’s cellphone, car or vacation but cannot pay for medical treatment if the beneficiary is receiving Medicaid. Similarly, if the beneficiary’s housing costs are covered by a needs-based government program, the trustee can use the trust asset to furnish an apartment but cannot pay the rent. 

As mentioned above, in your will you can direct your executor to fund a testamentary SNT that will be administered by a trustee of your choosing. In the alternative, you can create and fund an SNT for Frank during your lifetime. One advantage of this approach is that other family members can then contribute to the SNT either directly or by a bequest in their own wills. In either case, Frank will benefit from your generosity because rather than his inheritance being used for necessities, the trust assets can be used for things that will enhance his life, make him more comfortable and make each day more enjoyable. 

To create an SNT, you should contact an attorney who has prepared trusts in the past and who has experience working with clients concerned about the future of their disabled beneficiaries. 

Linda M. Toga, Esq. provides legal services in the areas of estate planning and administration, real estate, small business services and litigation from her East Setauket office. Visit her website at www.lmtogalaw.com or call 631-444-5605 to schedule a free consultation.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

We are back to shopping for college. There’s a familiar rhythm to this search that, the second time through, brings a more relaxed pace. Now that my wife and I have taken about a dozen college tours, we’ve noticed patterns. Please find below some observations:

• The library gets quieter the higher its location. Every school we’ve toured has suggested that people will throw visual daggers at you on the top floor if you drop your pencil. Move to a lower floor to cough. In the effort to differentiate one school from another, a clever college ought to invert the quiet pyramid. The logistics would be challenging, with people stepping onto a floor of silence, but it would make clear how serious students were in the library and would defy the usual expectations about noise on each floor.

• Showcase dorm rooms aren’t real. Yes, the rooms everyone sees are, of course, actual rooms, but they have considerably less stuff, no irrational roommates who scream in their sleep, and are better lit than the freshmen rooms most of our kids will occupy. Somehow, the temperature in these rooms is perfect for almost everyone. Many rooms, however, are way too hot or too cold for one, two or the three people jammed into a space that will feel like the garbage chute in the original “Star Wars” as the year progresses.

• Some tour guides will share their food choices, preferences and idiosyncrasies because it makes them charming. We may not have the same aversion to Vegan Tuesdays, but we will undoubtedly remember the school because some lacrosse player in desperate need of a haircut who sings hates vegan food.

• Tour guides are friendly. Yeah, I know, shocking, right? But, while they are talking to us, many wave to friends as they speak. Are they really waving at someone? Is one person walking back and forth? The whole “everyone loves me and I love everyone” shtick seems rehearsed. Then again, maybe tour guides really do have friends everywhere.

• Some information sessions and tours seem to have left something crucial out of the discussion: Who wouldn’t be a great fit for their extraordinary school? Schools might save themselves — and prospective students — trouble if they helped these eager high school seniors and juniors get a better idea of what might not work for them. None of the schools offer an amalgamated profile of the type of student who typically transfers anywhere else. They should, right? Wouldn’t it help to know that the snow which starts in September and ends in May drives some students away? Or that the competitive atmosphere on campus doesn’t work for some students? What have the schools learned from some of their admissions mistakes?

• People on tours generally look and sound tired. Most of the kids seem to be praying that their parents don’t embarrass them by asking too many questions. When asked what they plan to major in, they respond with something like “blobology” or “Idunnonotsure.” The introductory phase of the tour rarely creates cohesion among a group taking turns to hold doors open for each other.

• Tour guides attempt to share college humor by highlighting their personal deficiencies. In between waving to their extended group of friends, these guides point to a chemistry building or a music hall and suggest that they have absolutely no skills in those fields whatsoever and are in awe of their peers, who seem to be speaking a foreign language when they explain their passion for molecular biology.

• These guides pick majors and minors like they’re at an ice cream store: They have one scoop of biology, two small scoops of elementary education and sociology, and a sprinkling of criminal justice.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

There are people who think sleeping is a waste of time. These people go to sleep each night with great reluctance and insist they only need three or four hours of sleep to function well. Maybe they do. There are
others who walk around chronically sleep deprived, nodding off immediately when the house lights dim at a lecture or performance, because in spite of their best intentions, they just don’t get enough sleep. 

I’m here to declare that sleeping is one of the more creative pursuits, that in addition it is enjoyable, and that the end result the next day is to enable one to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

I enjoy sleeping.

Now presumably everyone knows what sleep is. But studies have shown that sleeping is a different experience from one mortal to the next. For example, I readily acknowledge that I am one of the lucky ones (good genes) who lie down in bed and almost immediately drift off to sleep. Indeed, I run out of gas and have to go to sleep, like a child, willingly or not. I understand that some people have a terrible time falling asleep. My husband was one of these. Watching me sleep, he surely had acute sleep envy.

How does that happen? I can tell you how it is for me — a statistical sample of one. As soon as I lie back and close my eyes, something akin to a story or even a movie begins in my head and leads me into sleep. If I am interrupted before I fall entirely asleep, a different story starts up when I go back to bed, even if it’s just a couple of minutes later, and I’m off. 

I have read all sorts of suggestions for people who struggle to fall asleep, hoping to help my husband. Maybe what I’ve learned can be of help to you if that is also your problem.

I do not have distractions in my bedroom. It’s rather sparsely furnished, mostly with pictures of my family and some knickknacks I have carried home from my wanderings. It is one of the best-ventilated rooms in the house, and I like it quite cool and quiet when I sleep. I have an outrageously comfortable mattress that is turned every three months. I also enjoy colorful sheets and a comforter rather than a blanket. My pillows are neither very fluffy nor flat, and they are down-filled.  

I almost never read in bed, nor watch television. I don’t have a desk there, with lots of correspondence to answer, nor a computer. Sometimes I take a bath before bedtime, sometimes a shower, sometimes neither, and I never drink hot milk. In fact, if I have alcohol, I may fall asleep even more quickly, but I am surely going to wake up around 3 a.m., when the effect has worn off. Best of all, I find, is to drink nothing after dinner so one’s bladder is skinny.

I also sleep pretty soundly, getting up sometimes once in the night. I find it tempting, after I return to bed, to pick up a book or newspaper to see what’s happening in the world — I am a news junkie — but I resist that urge and as a result usually fall back to sleep. If I don’t, I urge myself to get up and wash the kitchen floor, and that will generally do it.

There are, of course, different internal clocks for different people. Some are perfectly happy going to bed at 11 p.m. and waking up at 7 a.m. in time to get ready for work or school. Others start whipping around at 11 p.m. and are most productive when the rest of the world quiets down. My mother and father were badly mismatched in that way. My dad was used to living on a farm, where he went to bed at 8:30 p.m. and got up in time for the 4:30 a.m. milking. My mother did her work between midnight and 4 a.m. Somehow they did get together, but it wasn’t easy.

My advice: Find a job that fits your biological clock and you’ll be a happy person.

You might wonder that I find sleep creative. If I have a problem, whether mathematical or any other kind, I will often go to sleep at night with it on my mind and wake up with the solution at hand. Sleep is such a mysterious process. The brain works during sleep, and the body feels so much the better for the respite in the morning. 

Rerun for emphasis from Oct. 19, 2006.

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Osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis that often affects the knee. Stock photo
Lifestyle changes may slow progression
Dr. David Dunaief

Osteoarthritis is widespread. Most commonly, it affects the knees, hips and hands. There are three types of treatment: surgery, involving joint replacements of the hips or knees; medications; and nonpharmacologic approaches. The most commonly used first-line medications are acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen. Unfortunately, medications mostly treat the symptoms of pain and inflammation.

However, the primary objectives in treating osteoarthritis should also include improving quality of life, slowing progression of the disease process and reducing its disabling effects (1).

Dairy and milk

When we think of dairy, specifically milk, there are two distinct camps: One believes in the benefits, and the other thinks it may contribute to disease. In this case they both may be at least partly correct. In the Osteoarthritis Initiative study, an observational study of over 2,100 patients, results showed that low-fat (1 percent) and nonfat milk may slow the progression of osteoarthritis (2). The researchers looked specifically at joint space narrowing that occurs in those with affected knee joints. Radiographic imaging changes were used at baseline and then to follow the patients for up to 12 to 48 months for changes. Compared to those who did not drink milk, patients who did saw significantly less narrowing of knee joint space.

Was it a dose-dependent response? Not necessarily. Specifically, those who drank less than three glasses/week and those who drank four to six glasses/week both saw slower progression of joint space narrowing of 0.09 mm. Seven to 10 glasses/week resulted in a 0.12 mm preservation. However, those who drank more than 10 glasses/week saw less beneficial effect, 0.06 mm preservation compared to those who did not drink milk. Interestingly, there was no benefit seen in men or with the consumption of cheese or yogurt.

However, there are significant flaws with this study. First, the patients were only asked about their dietary intake of milk at baseline; therefore their consumption could have changed during the study. Second, there was a recall bias; patients were asked to recall their weekly milk consumption for the previous 12 months before the study began. I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall my intake of specific foods for the last week, let alone for the past year. Third, there could have been confounding factors, such as orange consumption.

Oddly, this was not a dose-response curve, since the most milk consumption had less beneficial effect than lower amounts. Also, why were these effects only seen in women? Finally, researchers could not explain why low-fat or nonfat milk had this potential benefit, but cheese was detrimental and yogurt did not show benefit. We are left with more questions than answers.

Would I recommend consuming low-fat or nonfat milk? Not necessarily, but I may not dissuade osteoarthritis patients from drinking it. There are very few approaches that slow the progression of joint space narrowing.

Vitamin D

Over the last five years or so, the medical community has gone from believing that vitamin D was potentially the solution to many diseases to wondering whether, in some cases, low levels were indicative of disease, but repletion was not a change-maker. Well, in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the gold standard of studies, vitamin D had no beneficial symptom relief, nor any disease-modifying effects (3). This two-year study of almost 150 men and women raised blood levels of vitamin D on average to 36 ng/ml, which is considered respectable. Researchers used MRI and X-rays to track their results.

Weight

This could not be an article on osteoarthritis if I did not talk about weight. In a study involving 112 obese patients, there was not only a reduction of knee symptoms in those who lost weight, but there was also disease modification, with reduction in the loss of cartilage volume around the medial tibia (4).

On the other hand, those who gained weight saw the inverse effect. A reduction of tibial cartilage is potentially associated with the need for knee replacement. The relationship was almost one-to-one; for every 1 percent of weight lost, there was a 1.2 mm³ preservation of medial tibial cartilage volume, while the exact opposite was true with weight gain.

Exercise and diet

In a study, diet and exercise trumped the effects of diet or exercise alone (5). Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight experienced significant improvements in function and a 50 percent reduction in pain, as well as reduction in inflammation, compared to those who lost 5 to 10 percent and those who lost less than 5 percent. This study was a well-designed, randomized controlled single-blinded study with a duration of 18 months.

Researchers used a biomarker — IL6 — to measure inflammation. The diet and exercise group and the diet-only group lost significantly more weight than the exercise-only group, 23.3 pounds and 19.6 pounds versus 4 pounds. The diet portion consisted of a meal replacement shake for breakfast and lunch and then a vegetable-rich, low-fat dinner. Low-calorie meals replaced the shakes after six months. The exercise regimen included one hour of a combination of weight training and walking with alacrity three times per week.

Therefore, concentrate on lifestyle modifications if you want to see potentially disease-modifying effects. These include both exercise and diet. In terms of low-fat or nonfat milk, while the study had numerous flaws, if you drink milk, you might continue for the sake of osteoarthritis, but stay on the low end of consumption. And remember, the best potential effects shown are with weight loss and with a vegetable-rich diet.

References:

(1) uptodate.com. (2) Arthritis Care Res online. 2014 April 6. (3) JAMA. 2013;309:155-162. (4) Ann Rheum Dis online. 2014 Feb. 11. (5) JAMA. 2013;310:1263-1273.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.     

The elderly were exempt from fasting on holidays in Iceland in 1200 CE. Painting by Johan Peter Raadsig

By Elof Axel Carlson

Elof Axel Carlson

We start our journey as a zygote, or fertilized egg, and become an embryo and fetus forming organ systems. We then become infants and children, then adolescents, and finally achieve adulthood and a heap of rights and activities as we raise families and enter our careers.  

We become old, mature, age and become senescent in a dependent way requiring assisted living and then die. Biologists call this a life cycle. It is true of all multicellular life. Each stage of the life cycle has its vulnerabilities and its diverse activities. I am now 88 years old and Nedra and I will be shifting to the senescent age of our life cycles as we enter assisted living in a retirement community that is affiliated with Indiana University.  

As a historian of science and a biologist, I am interested in how things originate. Humans have cared for the elderly at least as long ago as 500,000 BCE when fossil human remains revealed it was that of a cared for person we would classify as senescent. Canes have been retrieved from burials of Egyptian mummies some 30,000 years ago. The oldest dentures date back to 700 BCE. 

Multigenerational households were constructed in Rome in 100 BCE. In the Christian era, in Iceland in 1200 CE persons over 70 were exempt from fasting on holidays. The Catholic Church cared for the elderly in Europe until the Protestant revolution, when the burden shifted to the government, and it introduced poor laws and the creation of almshouses, poor houses and poor farms. These were often poorly supported and dismal in their environment with the psychotic residents often chained or placed in strait jackets and the elderly were neglected because funding from taxes was minimal.  

Poor houses were established in the Colonies shortly after the Pilgrims arrived. The first home for the aged in the U.S. was in 1823 in Boston. It was Dorothea Dix whose social work led to the separation of the paupers, “lunatics” and the aged from such poor houses and poor farms. 

The germ theory was introduced in the 1870s and 1880s and the number of people surviving to old age increased dramatically, but it was not until 1935 that the U.S. and President Franklin Roosevelt introduced Social Security as a separate tax-gathering organization, allowing unemployed people in their old age to live in their own homes. It was not until 1965 when President Lydon Johnson’s Great Society created Medicare and Medicaid that the aged could shift from boarding houses and nursing homes to communities of assisted living.  

Today there are 32,000 assisted living communities in the U.S. With humans living longer because of medical advances and these social measures, the population of those in their 60s or older will increase dramatically in the 21st century, and we will see far more assisted living communities that incorporate the hospitality of resorts with the medical care needs of the aged and the opportunities for music, lecture, exercise and a variety of eating choices for those who live in these facilities.  

It will also lead to higher taxes and debates on how society should respond to these needs when the opportunities for acquiring private wealth are limited for most of our citizens whose incomes provide little surplus funds for investment in their future retirement. 

It is our biology, not our ideology, that dictates our needs. It is our ideology or politics that dictates how we accommodate those needs.  

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

Jessica Schleider. Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

Many teenagers who are struggling with depression need help. According to several estimates, less than half of teens with depression receive treatment that would help them manage through everything from negative feelings toward themselves and their lives to a lack of control over events during the day.

Jessica Schleider, an assistant professor of clinical psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University, wants to offer teenagers battling depression a new kind of assistance.

Jessica Schleider on a hike with her dog Penny. Photo by David Payne

Schleider is seeking participants for a new study, called Project Track to Treat, that offers teenagers from 11 to 16 years old symptom-tailored treatment. After participating teens respond to surveys she sends them on smartphones, she will provide single-session, computer-based interventions that address symptoms such as hopelessness or withdrawal from daily activities.

Schleider recently received a five-year, $2 million Early Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health to test the benefits of these half-hour computer sessions.

The funds will go toward study staff, the cost of recruiting youths and families for the study, equipment, statistical packages for the analyses she plans to run and compensation for the families who take part.

“A vast majority of teenagers who experience depression never access treatment,” Schleider said, potentially because teens are not typically in a position where they can seek out treatment on their own. “Between the lack of access to services and the limited potency of services, there needs to be a broader array of options and layers we can provide.”

In the world of clinical psychology, three to four months is generally considered brief treatment. A single computer-based session that a teenager can access at any time offers support during a much shorter time frame.

The idea behind the briefer, more targeted intervention is that it could offer help. The goal of the session is to create positive momentum, to teach teens useful skills for coping with depression-related difficulties, and to offer it in a setting where modern teenagers spend much of their time, online, Schleider suggested.

Jessica Shleider with husband David Payne and their dog Penny.
Photo from Jessica Schleider

“For young people who would never go to a therapist, the question may be whether there is something else that could help, and [Schleider’s] work may offer one such ‘something else,’” John Weisz, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, wrote in an email. It’s also possible, explained Weisz, who has known Schleider since 2013 when she worked in his lab, that a single session might encourage teenagers to believe that other types of therapy can also help if they try.

Part of the motivation for this study is to determine if the nature of the symptoms — which she will explore through survey questions — can inform how teenagers will respond to a single, therapeutic session.

Schleider created these programs from available research in psychology and education. She adapted some of those programs to these specific circumstances and she taught herself rudimentary coding with html. She currently has three programs available on her website, which interested parents and teenagers can explore at www.schleiderlab.org/participate.

The teenagers participating in the study will receive questions a few times a day for three weeks about how they are feeling, checking to see any signs of depression. From those interactions, Schleider will be able to determine which symptom is the most central and which might lead to other symptoms over time. She hopes to take parameters from that to see if those symptoms predict how much a participant will respond to a session.

Schleider will also measure how teenagers respond to training through the study. If their emotional state deteriorates, the researchers can intervene and can monitor the level of risk and refer any cases appropriately. “Our top priority as researchers is to make sure the kids are taken care of,” she said.

She was skeptical before she started working on brief sessions. “I was on the side of, of course you can’t do anything in one session,” Schleider said. “I thought you need several sessions to make a sustained change.”

In looking at the available research, however, she discovered that through 50 randomized control trials in 2017, the magnitude of the effect of the trials was between small to medium range, which matched the effect of sessions ranging from an hour to 16 sessions for other teenagers. After her study, she realized that “there is something to this. We need to do more work to find out what to do and how to harness it for our youth.”

Through monitoring over two years, Schleider hopes to gain a better awareness of who will benefit from this session and under what time frame they might see an improvement.

She hopes teenagers can share their thoughts and ideas for how to improve these programs. She also offers some of these teenagers to help reconstruct the content and language and references.

Teenagers who don’t participate in the Track to Treat study can participate in an anonymous Project Yes effort, which is a program evaluation initiative. These participants can offer feedback on these sessions.

For a subset of teenagers, one session likely won’t be sufficient. 

Weisz suggested that Schleider, who joined Stony Brook last year, is a “terrific addition” to the university and the community. “I believe her work will reflect very well on both.” Weisz added that Schleider’s colleagues in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook “are among the finest psychological scientists in the nation,” where Schleider can “take her work to a very high level.”

Schleider, who joined Stony Brook last year, lives in Coram with her husband, David Payne, who is a medical resident in radiology at Stony Brook Hospital. 

As for her work, Schleider said she recognizes that there is no panacea, but that this approach is “something when the alternative is nothing.”

Pumpkin Risotto

By Barbara Beltrami

Most of us think of pumpkins as the main ingredient in pies, but they’re far more versatile than you might think. I’m not talking about pumpkin martinis or lattes or dishes made with canned pumpkin puree. I’m talking about savory familiar dishes that feature fresh pumpkin instead of their usual main ingredients … dishes such as curry or risotto or even oven fries. Yes, I know it’s a lot of work to cut up a pumpkin, but the taste and texture of what you get from doing it are worth the trouble. If you really think you can’t be bothered, then wait till Halloween and use the pumpkin flesh that’s carved out of the jack-o’-lanterns.

Thai Curried Pumpkin 

YIELD: Makes 3 to 4 servings

INGREDIENTS: 

One 1½- to 2-pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-size cubes

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon red curry paste

One 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

Freshly squeezed juice of one lime

1 tablespoon brown sugar

¼ cup peanut oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:

To a large pot of boiling salted water add pumpkin; cook 5 to 8 minutes, until barely tender. With slotted spoon remove from water and set aside. In a blender or food processor, puree shallots, garlic and curry paste with two tablespoons water; add coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar and pulse a few times to combine with curry paste mixture. Put oil in a wok and warm over medium heat; add curry mixture and stir constantly just until it releases its fragrance, about 10 to 15 seconds. Stir in coconut milk mixture, bring to boil, add pumpkin and reduce heat to low; cook, stirring once or twice until pumpkin is very tender but not mushy, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle with basil and serve immediately with rice.

Pumpkin Risotto

Pumpkin Risotto

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS: 

One 2-pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1½ quarts chicken broth

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup minced onion

½ cup minced celery

1½ cups arborio rice

¾ cup dry white wine

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss pumpkin cubes with olive oil, salt and pepper in shallow baking pan; bake until they are tender but not mushy, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to keep warm. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat warm chicken broth and leave on low heat to simmer. In a large heavy pot or saucepan over medium heat melt butter, then reduce heat to medium, add onion and celery and, stirring frequently, cook until onion is opaque, about 5 minutes. Add rice, stir, add wine, and stir for another one and a half minutes. Add one or two ladlefuls of broth and stir frequently until broth is absorbed. Repeat procedure, always stirring frequently, until all broth has been absorbed and rice is al dente, about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the baked pumpkin and Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with a sauteed leafy green vegetable.

Pumpkin Oven Fries

YIELD: Makes 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS: 

One 2- to 3-pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch sticks

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl toss all ingredients together until pumpkin is thoroughly coated. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spread pumpkin sticks around so that there is space between them. Place in oven and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until crispy and golden brown on outside and tender on inside. Place in a serving bowl and toss with cheese. Serve hot or warm with poultry or meat and a green salad.

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Sally

Update: Sally has been adopted!

MEET SALLY!

This week’s shelter pet is Sally, a 1½-year-old heeler mix rescued by Kent Animal Shelter from Texas, where sadly many dogs are euthanized. Sally is one of the lucky ones and is very grateful to have a second chance at life! She is eager to please and loves to go for walks with our volunteers. All she needs is a new home. Come on down to visit her!

Sally comes spayed, microchipped and up to date on her vaccines. 

Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Sally and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.

Angelina Jolie returns as the horned antagonist in the Maleficent sequel.

By Heidi Sutton

It’s been five years since Disney brought us the fairy tale Maleficent, a twist on the story of Sleeping Beauty where the focus is not on Aurora who falls into a deep sleep after pricking her finger on a spindle but on the evil fairy who put a curse on the princess in the first place.

Now its darker sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits local theaters and does not disappoint. King Stefan is dead and Aurora has been raised by her fairy godmother Maleficent in the Moors, a magical place filled with strange and mythical creatures. Humans and fairies live separate but in peace.

Aurora meets her future mother-in-law in a scene from Maleficent 2.

When Aurora becomes engaged to Prince Phillip, his parents, King John and Queen Ingrith of the Kingdom of Ulstead, invite Aurora and Maleficent to the castle for dinner. It is there that we discover the queen’s true intentions — to frame Maleficent for the murder of the king in order to have cause to declare war on the Moorfolk with devastating consequences.

Fans of the first film will be pleased to know that much of the original cast is back, with the exception of Brenton Thwaites who played Prince Phillip in the first film. Angelina Jolie is back as Maleficent complete with horns, wings and cheek prosthetics; Elle Fanning is the sweet Aurora; Sam Riley returns as Diaval, Maleficent’s loyal servant and pet raven; while Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville reprise their roles as pixies Knotgrass, Thistlewit and Flittle.

Newcomers include the handsome Harris Dickinson as Aurora’s prince, Robert Lindsay as King John, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Conall the Dark Fey and the incredible Michelle Pfeiffer as the villainous Queen Ingrith, aka Aurora’s future mother-in-law from hell.

A scene from Maleficent 2

It’s hard to figure out who director Joachim Ronning’s target audience is. On the one hand, the film is at times very violent, with an intense war scene between the humans and an army of dark fey, an attempted extermination of the Moorfolk in the palace’s church of all places and the sacrifice of one of the film’s most beloved characters. On the flip side, many of the Moors’ inhabitants are borderline silly with big eyes and cute voices and seemed geared toward children.

With a budget of $180 million, the film is visually stunning with special mention to the  scene where an injured Maleficent is rescued by her own kind and given a winged tour of a secret world where the dark fey eek out an existence away from humans. (I predict a new ride at Disney World.) 

In the end, the wedding of Aurora and Phillip serves as a union of the Kingdom of Ulstead and the Moors and a timely lesson against fear, bigotry, racism and intolerance and that makes it worth a view.

Rated PG, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is now playing in local theaters

Photos courtesy of Disney Studios