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Monday, May 2, 2011 – Daily News – 5A FEATURES Machiavellian mother manipulates minors Dear Annie: When I married my husband, I sud- denly became a full-time stepmother to his three young children, all under age 5. Their mother would pop up when it was conve- nient for her. She rarely called on their birthdays and often left them waiting for scheduled visits. I raised those children, and they called me ‘‘Mommy.’’ Now, after 10 years, the mother has returned and plans to stick around. This woman is irresponsible, immature and impossible to reason with. There have been many problems, includ- ing drug use around the kids. They are afraid to upset her for fear she will abandon them again. I under- stand their worries. She has threat- ened on more than one occasion to walk out on them if they tell their father about her drug use. She leaves them alone for hours or brings them around people the kids do not feel comfortable with. She tells the kids that my hus- band kept her from seeing them all those years, which is patently untrue. He has gone out of his way to make sure they have some sort of relationship. I truly try my best to stay out of the middle even though I don’t feel she behaves in the best interests of the children. She says I’m ‘‘just the stepmom’’ and should keep my mouth shut. Are my opinions irrelevant? She has violated every court order as if she is above the law. She also has This column is devoted to mak- ing sense out of money issues. But some money topics seem to defy logic. And, not surprisingly, most of those illogical money issues revolve around government actions. I'm always wondering how they get away with this stuff. 1. No Social Security benefits increase because of "no" inflation. But Medicare premiums set to rise 4.6 percent. The government doesn't think there's any inflation around. Here's the Social Security website, explaining why there will be no cost-of-living increase in benefits for Social Security recipients in 2011: "As determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is no increase in the Con- sumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI- W) from the third quarter of 2008, the last year a COLA was deter- mined, to the third quarter of 2010." No inflation in the past two years? Where do they live? Even worse, the very same government announces that Medicare premiums are set to rise 4.4 percent over the 2010 levels, for anyone with income over $85,000. The govern- ment's reasoning for the increase in premiums as written on the Medicare.gov website: "The Medicare Part B premium is increasing in 2011 because of pos- sible increases in Part B costs." Oh, great. The government is actually getting ahead of anticipat- ed cost increases by charging you higher premiums -- in advance! But they don't recognize any inflation for the past two years when it comes to Social Security. Does this make any sense to you? By the way, your actual Medicare premium is based on your income two years ago -- perhaps before you retired -- and could be as high as $369.10 per month, a shocking fact for many recent retirees. 2. Property taxes are rising, while home values are falling. Annie’s Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar no problem involving the kids in this mess and seems to have won them over by playing the victim. How should I deal with this prob- lem that won’t go away? — Irrelevant Mommy Dear Mommy: Those children desperately want their mother’s love and will eventually realize that it comes with strings attached. Until then, let your husband handle all problems so you don’t become the target of her manipula- tions. Keep a record of any damag- ing behavior, missed visits, drug use, etc., which your husband should report to his attorney. If the children have not had counseling, please consider it. And give them extra doses of affection, attention and stability. They need you to be their rock. Dear Annie: I have three sisters. I’m the ‘‘odd man out’’ because I neither smoke nor drink to excess as they do. Several times, they have made plans to do something as a family and not invited me. Recent- ly, when my sister from out of state visited, I wasn’t told. I feel left out and unwanted. Since my parents divorced 10 years ago, we’ve drifted apart. I am the only one who maintains contact with my father (a difficult man), and I suspect they believe I ‘‘spy’’ for him. I do not, although some- times he tells me information about them that I didn’t know. We all are on Facebook, but I I don't care how many county assessors and village clerks try to explain this to me, it can't possibly make any sense. Even with lagging reassessments, there's no way that property taxes reflect anything like current market values. For example, in Illi- nois, Lake County's property tax consumes an average of 6.5 percent of household income -- the highest collection percentage in the state and in the nation. In fact, Illinois ranks as the sixth high- est collector of property as a percentage of home value. You can check these figures for individual states and counties using the property tax lookup tool at interactive.tax- foundation.org. Even more astounding seldom get to check because of work, family and household obliga- tions. I’m in a quandary as to whether to confront them, and if so, how? — Texas Dear Texas: A confrontation implies belligerence. It’s OK to tell your siblings, nicely, that you feel hurt when you are excluded from family events and would like to be notified when someone is in town. But you should also do your part by making a greater effort to stay in touch, either via Facebook, e-mail or phone. Dear Annie. Love your column. The letter from ‘‘Love My In-Laws, But’’ gave me a big laugh. Obvi- ously that ‘‘gracious hostess’’ is not Italian. In my family, a snack is usually a seven-course meal, and we always urge our guests to eat, eat, eat! We prepare enough for an army. My children are all adults, but I still make huge Sunday din- ners for kids, grandkids, spouses, significant others, the more the merrier. She is welcome to bring her in- laws to my house, and if there are any leftovers, she can have them. — Italian Mama Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Why are Medicare premiums going up? problems repaying student loans. It's clear that college is being priced out of reach for many struggling families. But instead of cutting costs and lowering prices to encourage more use of their product, col- leges and universities across the nation are rais- ing tuition rates. Last week, the University of Illinois announced a 6.9 percent tuition increase. That's just a reflection of what's happening across the country. Terry Savage The Savage is the fact that property taxes in Lake County haven't fallen, despite a 6.3 percent decline in "equalized assessed value." Truth on Money State and local governments make up for falling home values by increasing assessments through a variety of accounting tricks. But the bottom line remains the same: You're paying more property taxes. While home prices have fallen as much as 30 percent from their peaks in many states, property tax collections have climbed more than 10 percent nationally since 2008. Only government could get away with this -- and that might not last long. Just ask the mayor of Miami, who was ousted in a recall election last week after proposing a 14 per- cent property tax increase. 3. Universities increase tuition, while graduates can't repay loans. Everyone agrees that education is the basic requirement for a suc- cessful, growing economy -- even though today's college graduates can't find jobs and are having huge Only one school seems to get it. In Terra Haute, Ind., the new freshman class at St. Mary-of-the- Woods College will be promised that their first- year $25,000 tuition and fees cannot rise over their four-year course of study. Officials there said the pol- icy is an attempt to increase enrollment and retention. Finally, someone in col- lege administration is acknowledging the reality of the marketplace: Higher prices destroy demand -- unless government sub- sidizes student loans that can't be defaulted. If we want an educated citizenry, schools will have to make better use of their resources instead of passing on higher costs. What do all three of these exam- ples have in common? Those who price the "product" don't live in the real world where ordinary people have to make tradeoffs. Govern- ments and universities always have been able to pass along their "costs." But not for much longer. And that's the Savage Truth. Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and is on the board of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She can be reached at www.terrysavage.com. She is the author of the new book, "The New Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?" Mental health update seeks public input Tehama County has sub- mitted the Mental Health Services Act Annual Update for 2011-2012, the Workforce Education and Training Component Pro- gram and Expenditure Plan, the Innovation Work Plan, the Capital Facilities and Technological Needs Com- ponent Proposal, and the Training, Technical Assis- tance and Capacity Build- ing Funds Request for pub- lic review and comment for a period of 30 days. The documents are being made available for COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES Smog Check starting at $ (most cars and pick-ups) 2595 + cert. Pass or FREE retest 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. K W I K K U T S Family Hair Salon $200 REGULAR HAIRCUT off with coupon Not good with other offers 1064 South Main St., Red Bluff • 529-3540 Reg. $13.95 Expires 5/31/11 viewing on www.tehama- cohealthservices.net. Copies are available for review at 1860 Walnut St., Ste A, Red Bluff, 1445 Vista Way, Red Bluff or 275 Solano St., Corning. You may also request a copy by calling Renee Fortenberry at 527-5631 ext. 3018 or by email to fortenberryr@tcha.net. Comments on the report or proposals should be directed to Steve Chamblin, MHSA coordinator, at 527- 5631 ext. 3034 or cham- blins@tcha.net. Talk to physician for information DEAR DR. GOTT: I was told that I have lym- phocytic colitis. I have been on Entocort for three months and am now on Lialda. I am seeing a gas- troenterologist. I am told that this is an immune prob- lem. Is this a long- lasting problem, and am I seeing the right doctor? I have had several UTIs, which I think are related, but the antibiotics have an adverse effect on me. I can’t walk and have pain in my arthritic joints. (I have severe osteoarthritis and see a rheumatologist.) Please help explain what I can expect long term. DEAR READER: Based on your brief note, I can’t provide specific information. Are you on any other medications, such as an anti-inflamma- tory or other pain medica- tion for your arthritis? Do you have any other health conditions? What antibi- otics have you taken that appeared to adversely affect you? What testing have you had? Your best source for information is your physician. I urge you to sit down with him or her to discuss your con- cerns and questions. Because I don’t have the answer to any of this, I will simply provide basic information about lym- phocytic colitis. Lymphocytic colitis and collagenous colitis together are referred to as microscopic colitis. Some researchers believe that the two are simply differ- ent presentations or phas- es of a single condition. Symptoms and treatment of both are identical; therefore, discussing one is the same as discussing both. The only difference between the two is on microscopic examination (hence the name) of a tis- sue sample taken from the affected individual. Collagenous colitis causes collagen in the colon to thicken. It is most commonly diagnosed in people in their 50s, with women being affected more frequently than men. Lymphocytic colitis caus- es increased levels of white blood cells known as lymphocytes within the colon. It affects men and women equally and is also most commonly diag- nosed in those aged 50 or older. The cause of micro- scopic colitis is unknown, but researchers currently theorize that it may involve viruses, bacteria and/or immune-system issues. Some individuals Dr. Peter Gott with microscopic colitis may have a pre-e xisting immune disorder such as celiac dis- ease (gluten intol- erance), sclero- derma (connective tissue disorder, often affecting the skin) and rheuma- toid arthritis (joint pain and damage). Symptoms include chron- ic, watery diarrhea that may last for weeks, months or even years, and abdominal pain or cramps. While less common, fecal incontinence, nausea and bloating may occur. Mild weight loss, weakness and dehydration are also pos- sibilities because of the diarrhea. Some studies have linked certain medications to microscopic colitis; however, not all the stud- ies agree, so further research is still required. Currently, acarbose, aspirin, NSAIDs, omepra- zole, ranitidine, sertraline, flutamide, esomeprazole, clozapine, entacapone, lansoprazole, simvastatin and ticlopidine are possi- bly linked. Some cases may resolve without treatment; however, diet and medica- tion modifications may be beneficial in reducing symptoms. Any drug that may be linked should be discontinued, reduced or replaced. Fats and fiber intake should be reduced, while caffeine and dairy/lactose products should be eliminated from the diet. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids and avoid irritating foods. Soft, easy-to-digest foods eaten over several smaller meals per day are the best option. Medication will likely be recommended if dietary modifications fail to produce sufficient results. These include over-the-counter anti-diar- rheals and prescription bile-acid blockers, steroids, anti-inflammato- ry drugs and immunosup- pressants. For severe cases in which medication is inef- fective, surgical removal of a portion or the entire colon may be beneficial; however, this is rare for microscopic colitis. Dr. Peter H. Gott is a retired physician and the author of several books, including “Live Longer, Live Better,” “Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Diet” and “Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook,” which are available at most bookstores or online. His website is www.AskDrGottMD.com Anderson century bike ride The Anderson River Park Century bicycle ride will be held on Saturday, May 14. Riders may register online at www.centurybikeride.com. Mail in registration forms are available online or at your local bike shop. Rider fees increase by $5 for those registering after May 8. The seventh annual Anderson River Park Century has over 200 riders attending from the local area and through- out California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington. Riders enjoy the 25, 40, 60 or 100-mile rides, starting and finishing at Anderson River Park. Longer routes climb through the foothills of southeastern Shasta Coun- ty. Area lions clubs provide service for the riders includ- ing rest stops with snacks, drinks and lunch. All riders enjoy a pasta meal at the park upon completing the ride. Check the web site www.centurybikeride.com or con- tact Ride Director Mike Ferrier at 941-9977 or at mike- ferrier@sbcglobal.net for more information.