Legal Advice Blog: Legal Advice, Case Insights, & Local Law Information

Last night as my daughter and I were dancing around the living room with garland draped around our shoulders to Christmas music in our attempt to decorate the tree I did not think twice about the sink full of dishes and the laundry that needed washed.  I knew that they would still be there, but this moment with my daughter would only be here once and I needed to enjoy this time with her.  It is for sure a memory I will cherish forever.  The smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes let me know how much she appreciated it as well. The holiday season is upon us and so many of us get caught up in the holiday to dos in addition to all of life’s daily events.  Many of us work full time and are racing against the clock to get the kids from school, stop by the grocery store to pick up dinner, rush home get dinner started, maybe throw in that load of laundry.  Whatever your daily lives entail, sometimes it feels almost impossible to get it all done and most evenings you are left exhausted from the daily hustle and bustle.  As we are getting ready for the holidays, here are some helpful hints that might make things a little easier and a little less chaotic for you so you have time to enjoy this holiday season. Plan out your meals: Sit down the night before you plan on going to the grocery store and plan out what you are going to make for the coming up week.  Get your calendar out see what you have going on in the upcoming week and plan meals accordingly.  If you know little Susie has a Christmas concert Monday evening, plan a crockpot meal so all you have to do is come home and eat.  Make your grocery list at the same time so you know exactly what you are going to get at the store which can also save money and time. Christmas shopping list: Make a list of all of the individuals you shop for at Christmas time.  Next to each person’s name write down your gift ideas and as you shop cross off those folks who you have finished buying for.  It’s a great way to ensure you do not forget anyone. Weekly schedule: I have found that during the month of December things get pretty busy between Christmas programs at school for the kiddos and Christmas parties, it’s so hard to keep track of it all.  Write down the dates week by week and fill in the events.  This ensures you do not miss out on any of the fun holiday events. It can be so overwhelming to try and remember everything that needs to get done between the Christmas shopping, the holiday baking and the day to day events you have on your plate.  With a little bit of pre-planning and organization it can ease some of the pressure that most of us experience during the holiday season.

Santa Claus is a well-known and loved holiday tradition. Also known as Kris Kringle and Old Saint Nick, Santa Claus is a jolly old fellow who lives at the North Pole with a team of reindeer and elves, who spend the year making toys for all the world’s children, then delivering them through chimneys on Christmas Eve. Everyone knows that Santa is especially famous for making his list and checking it twice, to determine which children have been naughty and which have been nice, and distributing presents accordingly. Everyone knows that the naughty children receive lumps of coal in their stockings, rather than candy and toys. But what you may not know is that this has not always been the case. A lump of coal would be a welcome gift compared to what a bad child would have received back in the day. If you were a misbehaving child living in Germany and the surrounding areas up until the early 20 th Century, you could expect a visit from the Krampus. The Krampus, a name that you may recognize from the recently released comedic horror film of the same name, is a long-standing figure in Alpine folklore. Though it is unclear where exactly the creature got its origins, he seems to be a mix of Greek, Germanic and Norse mythological creatures, and was later incorporated into the Christian tradition of Saint Nicholas. Legend has it that the Krampus is a large, furry creature with goat-like horns, one human foot and one hoof. He has been compared to other creatures of lore, such as satyrs, fauns and chimera. While Saint Nicholas would reward good children with candy and treats, the Krampus would swat bad children with a switch or a rod, or snatch them up to take back to his lair. Some versions of the legend are much darker than others, but the common theme is that the Krampus served as the counterpart to good Saint Nick, and a cautionary tale to would-be misbehaving children everywhere. Although the Krampus has been largely eliminated from modern day Christmas celebrations in American, one tradition which many Americans do celebrate has its origins in Krampus-lore, though they may not know it. On Dec. 6, often known as “Saint Nicholas Day,” children leave out a shoe for Saint Nicholas and generally awake to find a little gift or treat from the jolly old elf. However, the night before Saint Nicholas Day is known as “Krampusnacht,” or Krampus Night. On that night, the Krampus would seek out the bad children, leaving only the good ones to receive their gifts from Saint Nicholas. Krampusnacht is still celebrated in many parts of Europe, particularly Austria and Germany, generally by a raucous nighttime parade where men will dress up as the Krampus and cavort through the town. Just when you think you know everything there is to know about Christmas, the Krampus shows that there is always something more to learn. So, be good on Krampusnacht, and if you get a lump of coal on Christmas Day, just be thankful that it wasn’t a visit from the Krampus.

As I go forward with my campaign, I find that more often than not, people want to find out how I am likely to handle certain issues that will come before me as a Circuit Court Judge.  Rather than trying to discuss a long list of specific issues, I will often tell folks that I am best described as “old school”.  Although most people understand what I mean in using that term, some have asked me for a more detailed description.  “Old School” is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as referring to “someone that is old fashioned or traditional”.  While that certainly is an accurate description of my views on a lot of different issues, I think some specific examples might be appropriate.  Accordingly, I offer the following examples of Old School characteristics. Old School understands that parenting is the most difficult and the most important job that any of us will ever have.  He appreciates that it is his responsibility to raise his children to be polite, respectful and considerate of others.  He knows that it is his obligation to teach his children right from wrong, even where the best lesson involves showing them where he himself has failed. Old School has a deep and abiding appreciation for the dedication and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans, and he believes it to be a national embarrassment that we still have veterans who are homeless or in need of medical care they are unable to afford.  He believes that if we can afford to send our men and women to war, we can certainly afford to take care of them when they return. Old School still opens doors for ladies.  When walking with a lady he never walks ahead of her, and he always walks on the curb side of the sidewalk.  In a restaurant, he understands that the lady orders first, and he never starts his meal until she has hers.  He helps her on with her coat, he gives her his seat, and he defends her honor when necessary.  He doesn’t do these things because he sees her as weak; he does them as a way of showing his respect and appreciation for her. Old School listens to The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Van Morrison.  While he prefers classic rock, he appreciates and respects artists from an earlier time, such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett.  He thinks that when they decided to call modern music “rap”, they forgot to include the “c”. Old School appreciates that the best movies ever made came from a time when we didn’t have to see nudity and sex in every third scene.  When John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara went into the bedroom and closed the door, we all knew what was happening next; it wasn’t necessary to show it to the world.  Sex is private, and seeing it splashed across a movie screen makes the old school man feel like a peeping tom. Whenever a friend needs help, Old School is there to give it.  It doesn’t matter when or where.  His friend is his brother, and when his brother is in need, he goes.  No exceptions, even if he has to help carry a sleeper sofa down three flights of stairs.  (In the case of the sleeper sofa, however, the friend receiving the help should show his appreciation with tickets to a Steeler game or an expensive bottle of bourbon, or both.  Sleeper sofas weigh a ton.) Old School respects and appreciates teachers and law enforcement officers.  He understands the critical importance of their jobs in modern society.  If one of Old School’s children is disrespectful or disobedient to a teacher or police officer, that child is in for big problems when he gets home.  Old School saw the business end of a paddle more than once as he grew up, and it didn’t hurt him a bit. Honor, respect, compassion, humility and work ethic are the character traits most important to Old School, and he strives to live his life with those traits foremost in his mind.  He is ashamed of the times when he has failed to live up to those qualities, but he admits his failures, learns from them and moves forward with a renewed and deeper commitment. I’m old school, and proud of it.

I am not sure that what I say here is “learning” but here are some of my memories of my maternal grandparents.  As my mom was their youngest of four girls, my paternal grandparents were always sort of old, I guess.  From my earliest memories, they had white hair and the usual ailments of the elderly.  My mom’s mother died when I was in my middle teens.  I have very vivid memories of her.  Her name was Cora.  I always loved her name.  I thought it was very feminine and pretty.  My grandma was very amusing to me.  I thought she was, at times, silly but looking back she could have been a little senile too in later years.  Can I say that?  Or just old enough that she could say what she wanted to maybe. I will always remember her rolled down hose.  Ladies wore dresses—sometimes it was just a house coat—but she always had those hose on; rolled down to her knees or sometimes to her ankles.  I guess they didn’t have knee high hose then.  She always wore a petticoat.  Now, mind you, her petticoat was silk but it did not have the um, support, that ladies are sure to have today.  Her hair was pure white and curly.  I evidently inherited her curly hair.  She was a cook for a living.  And she really could cook.  She made wonderful food.  Some of my favorites were her poached eggs, tomato gravy and her coleslaw.  And I don’t mean all at the same time.  Those dishes are what I remember the most while spending time in her kitchen.  She made her coleslaw, obviously from scratch, of course, but she put that coleslaw together right on the kitchen table.   She shredded the cabbage and carrots and mixed it all right there.  I do not have the recipe and I have been trying to recreate her coleslaw recipe for a long time now. I come close, but there is just something that is not the same.  Maybe it is mixing it on the kitchen table.  I really think she did that because making coleslaw is pretty messy I have found out.  Or maybe it was just the love of cooking that comes out in the taste of what she put together. My mom’s dad died when I was 12, I think.  He was a big man.  He had white hair and he chewed tobacco and it was always there in one side of his mouth with his spittoon right beside him wherever he was sitting whether in his special chair in the kitchen—I called it special because it was not one of the traditional kitchen chairs but a chair that had wooden arms and seemed to fit him just right— his traditional arm chair/recliner in the living room, or his chair on the back porch.  That spittoon was always there wherever he was sitting.  My pap was always sitting and always spitting.  He moved from chair to chair and that’s about all he did.  He didn’t have much to say.  My youngest brother inherited that from our pap.  He reminds me a great deal of him and, in fact, he is named after my pap.  When my mom was ready to go to the hospital, he said, if you have more than one, name one after me. She had more than one—a boy and a girl—and James (from my pap) and Elwood (from the doctor that delivered all seven of us) became my younger brother’s name.  I was three when the twins were born and I can still remember the day they came home from the hospital.  We were living with my grandparents then, and they laid both babies on grandma Cora’s kitchen table and everyone surrounded the table making over those babies.  My oldest sister—whom I am very close to—says I became a brat that day.   She was 12 and she took care of me (a 3-year-old) as my mom was busy with those babies. My pap always had the radio on— radios, I should say.  He had a large old-style radio that was housed in a wooden cupboard behind doors and another large upright radio that you could see the speakers through the grooves in the carved wood and the knobs and buttons on the top and the usual channel indicators that lit up.  He also had transistor radios on—at least two—maybe more.  Usually, all these radios were on at the same time, and if he was in his living room, the TV was on too.  All channels were tuned into a baseball game—all different games.  I don’t remember so much about what games he listened to, but I imagine the Pirates were one of the teams.  But he listened to as many as he could at one time.  I also remember him watching bowling on TV.  He seemed to like that.  I found it very boring, I remember, but it was always on.  My pap had his Iron City beer delivered once a week on Saturday mornings to the back door.  Someone from Loggies would pull up in the alley and deliver bottles of beer that came in a really neat box that opened on the top from the middle out.  He would put the empties back in that box (and this box held a lot of them) to be picked up the next Saturday.  This was how it was from the time I can remember.  He also had a bottle in the ‘icebox’ that was housed in a brown paper bag.  We were told never to touch.  We never did. My pap was a nice man and my grandma was a nice lady.   My family (nine of us) lived with them when I was very young and then eventually my grandparents lived with my mom’s sister.  We stayed overnight there more times than I can count.  One or more of the seven of us was always there.  We also visited every Sunday after church and had breakfast either downstairs at my grandma’s or upstairs at my aunt’s.  They must have really loved us to never tell us to go home.  I know we loved them. My paternal grandparents were from the mother country, Poland.  Their first child was born in Poland.  The rest of their 11 children were then born here in the United States.  I never knew these grandparents as they were gone long before I was born.   My grandmother, Marianna, died when my dad was about 13 which would have been in the 30s and my grandfather Thaddeus died only after having been there for the birth of my two older sisters in the early 50s. Both sets of my grandparents are buried here in Wheeling where I do not often enough visit them.   Writing about my maternal grandparents has brought back wonderful memories of my childhood—especially those hot summer months when we were always there with them listening to baseball, bringing pap his bottle of beer, enjoying wonderful food and my grandmother’s abundance of beautiful flowers and homegrown fruits and vegetables from the back yard.  The Irises that line my driveway and one side of my house are from my grandmother’s garden that date back to the 60s, at least. I truly miss them.  I think what I learned most from my Grandma Cora and Grandpap James is taking care of family—they cared for us in more ways than I will be able to speak of here—and always provided unconditional love.

As most of you reading this know, our law firm since its inception, has been heavily involved in automotive-related litigation.  We’ve done major truck and car crash cases.  We have litigated product liability cases involving rollovers, roof collapses, defective seatbacks, defective seatbelts, defective glass and tires.  We have investigated failures of airbags as well. In recent developments, the Takata airbag has been under serious attack.  There have been claims made that Takata has kept defects about its airbags hidden well before the company issued a vast number of recalls starting in 2008.  The problem with the Takata airbag is that a flaw in the bag can cause the airbag to explode while it’s inflating.  Unfortunately, the information concerning these exploding airbags has not come to public light in spite of the fact that U.S. Senators have accused Takata of instructing employees to destroy information about the faulty airbags—including video and computer data. One of the more serious problems of these bad airbags is that the defective airbag can cause metal pieces to pierce the steering column during airbag deployment because of the chemical reaction that occurs combined with high surrounding humidity levels.  Honda, who is one of the users of the Takata airbag, is the same company that admitted this past fall to failing to report almost 1,800 deaths and injuries to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2003.  Under U.S. law, carmakers are supposed to provide early warning reports accounting for each death or injury linked to possible safety defects.  In spite of the fact that they under-reported over 1,800 injuries and deaths, including Takata airbag inflator explosions. Finally, at the end of November of last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered Takata to increase and enlarge its recall of the defective airbags throughout the country.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that various components of the Takata airbag can fail in all regions of the country.  Unfortunately, the Takata airbag is not only provided in the Japanese automobiles but also in automobiles manufactured by the Chrysler Group, Toyota and BMW which include this airbag.

Last October, we highlighted the Huffington Post’s series regarding Johnson & Johnson's drug Risperdal and the billions of dollars the company made whilst failing to warn prospective patients, particularly young males, about the risk of developing breasts. .  In that article, we touched upon the concept of “off-label” drug use, a hot topic recently addressed by the Wall Street Journal, in an article entitled, “Risk of Off-Label Uses for Prescription Drugs.” The timing of the article could not have been better as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California is prepared to hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Solis v. Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as to whether the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to limit the pharmaceutical industry’s right to free speech in “truthfully” marketing its products.  Recall that a pharmaceutical company is not permitted to market its product off-label, an unlawful activity that has cost some pharmaceutical manufacturers hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal’s article was premised upon a recent study spearheaded by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine (JAMA), entitled “Off-Label Drug Use and Adverse Drug Events Turning up the Heat on Off-Label Prescribing.” The study was done, in part, because of concerns regarding adverse drug events (ADEs), and that no systematic investigation of the effects of off-label drug use in adult population had been performed to date.   This is quite remarkable considering the fact that, according to the study, a significant proportion of drugs doctors prescribe (approximately 12 percent) are for uses other than those approved by the FDA. In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the study, on must understand the concept of off-label drug use, which is the practice of prescribing medications for indications, or using a dosage or dosage form, that have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Surprisingly, FDA has no specific regulation addressing off-label drug use, but it did issue a notice of proposed rule-making in 1972 that provides insight into the agency’s analysis: Once new drug is in a local pharmacy after interstate shipment, the physician may, as part of the practice of medicine, lawfully prescribe a different dosage for his patient, or may otherwise vary the conditions of use from those approved in the package insert, without informing or obtaining the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.  This interpretation of the Act is consistent with Congressional intent as indicated in the legislative history of the 1938 Act and the drug amendments of 1962. Throughout the debate leading to the enactment, there were repeated statements that Congress did not intend the Food and Drug Administration to interfere with medical practice and references to the understanding that the bill did not purport to regulate the practice of medicine as between the physician and the patient. Congress recognized a patient's right to seek civil damages in the courts if there should be evidence of malpractice, and declined to provide any legislative restrictions upon the medical profession. In 1981, the above proposed rule was cited by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of The United States v. H. Ray Evers, M.D. In that case, the FDA sued Dr. Evans for “misbranding” a drug in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (“Act”).  More specifically, Dr. Evers had been utilizing “chelation” drugs, which were FDA approved for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning, to treat circulatory disorders.  Interestingly, prior to bringing suit, the FDA explicitly informed Dr. Evers that he could legally prescribe chelating drugs for the treatment of circulatory disorders.  Moreover, during litigation, the United States agreed with Dr. Evers that the provisions of the Act and the FDA regulations did not prevent him from prescribing chelation drugs off-label.  Instead, the United States took issue with Dr. Evers promotional activities associated with his off-label drug use.  Ultimately, the US Court of Appeals found in favor of Dr. Evers because he was not promoting the use of chelation drugs to other physicians, but only to his patients. In many cases, off-label drug use can be beneficial.  For instance, if a doctor has a patient with a diagnosis of major depression disorder with psychotic features, then in that instance, a doctor may have a reasonable basis to treat his/her patient with an "off-label" medication such as Risperdal, which is only FDA approved to treat schizophrenia or bi-polar disease.  While the patient does not have the diagnosis of schizophrenia or bi-polar disease, the patient does suffer from psychosis, for which there are no FDA approved drugs on the market to treat.  Thus, a physician may be justified in prescribing the drug off label, provided that the patient has been fully informed about the risks of that medication.  However, should the patient begin to suffer from an adverse effect associated with the drug, the risk-benefit profile for that patient should be reassessed. This philosophy is supported by the JAMA article/study cited above, which has demonstrated that off-label use that lacked strong scientific evidence had a higher ADE rate (21.7 per 10,000 person-months) compared with on-label use and off-label use with strong scientific evidence (13.2 per 10,000 person-months) had about the same risk for ADEs as on-label use.  Furthermore, the risk for ADEs grew as the number of prescription drugs the patient used increased.  For example, patients using eight or more drugs had more than a five-fold increased risk for ADEs compared with patients who used one to two drugs.  The authors of the study concluded that "Off-label drug use, and particularly off-label use without strong scientific evidence, is a risk factor for adverse drug events (ADEs). Hence, physicians and physician organizations should recognize the enormity of the problem and be active participants in the promotion of cautious prescribing of drugs for off-label uses lacking strong scientific evidence.  Future electronic health records (EHRs) should be designed to enable post-marketing surveillance of treatment indications and treatment outcomes to monitor the safety of on- and off-label uses of drugs."  In a related commentary, Chester B. Good, M.D., M.P.H., and Walid F. Gellad, M.D., M.P.H., of the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, write: "Egulae and colleagues have provided compelling evidence that off-label prescribing is frequently inappropriate and that prescribing in these circumstances increases the risk for an adverse event substantially. The FDA and the courts must carefully consider these findings as they contemplate guidance that would relax regulations to permit promotion of drugs beyond their labeled indications." Consumers beware – many drugs being prescribed off-label today carry significant FDA warnings, some of which caution the user that the drug may substantially increase the risk of death and/or serious bodily injury in some patient sub-populations.  Therefore, before taking a medication, one should consider investigating the medication in detail to determine if the benefit outweighs the risk.    At a minimum, your research should identify the signs and symptoms of adverse reactions associated with the medication, in order to timely trigger reassessment of the need for the drug.

It’s that time of year again, folks! We are having so much fun preparing to entertain you on Dec. 4-6, and Dec. 11- 12 when Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre actors present The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Directed by P.D. Gregg. Last year, I wrote to you about my daughter, Aleigha, convincing my husband and me to audition for “A Christmas Carol.” If you recall, we did audition, we made it and had a great time with it. I spoke about our experience in learning something new, the wonderful new friends we made and all the people we met through the entire process, how much we learned and most importantly, doing this as a family. Since then, Aleigha has gone on to perform in several plays throughout the year. But again for the Christmas show, she wanted my husband and me to try out. After all, it would now be a family tradition. And here we are. We all made it! Aleigha even scored a lead role! We have been practicing together with all our Towngate family, some old and some new, to present to you The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! This comical Christmas classic will keep you smiling all the way through. If you aren’t familiar with the storyline, it revolves around a family struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant due to the unexpected injury to its normal pageant director. The somewhat naïve mother who undertakes this task ends up casting the worst children in the history of the world, the Herdman kids. The Herdman children have no idea what the story of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus is even about and throughout the play you may discover that their antics just may make it a wonderful pageant after all. (Center 1st Row, Claire Seibert, 2nd Row, Delaney Powell, Nathan Stryker, Adam Marquart and Dally Ward) One of the best aspects of performing in the play this holiday season is the 38 local cast members. Interestingly, this year, many of the cast are families. We have had the privilege of working with each family and are doing this as a team even including the Director’s own wife, Dee. 1st row: Campbell Hughes, Reagan Hughes, Kara Zeroski, Kearstin Zeroski; 2nd row: Kim Brown, Justin Swoyer, Deandre Barnaba, Valyri Barnaba, Charlie Dodd, Erin Dodd; 3rd row: Juliet Brown, Nicole Brown, Jodi Hunt, Aleigha Dodd, Kristen Seibert, 4th row Isaac Swoyer, Dylan Hunt, Jayma Hunt, Claire Seibert Let us put a smile on your face this holiday season and be sure to call and get your tickets before it’s too late, (304) 242-7700 or reserve online at towngatecustomerservice@oionline.com. May you have a wonderful holiday season and start if off by joining us for THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!

“Yes, the price on the sign is the final price and no we don’t have any more in the back.” It would be impossible to count how many times that line will be said to costumers throughout today, Black Friday. Black Friday is known for huge lines, early mornings and chaos. This is because it is officially the kick off to the holiday shopping season and everyone wants to get the best prices early on. If you are one of the ones going out to shop for the holidays on Black Friday, there are a few things that you should remember. First, the long line you’re waiting in thinking to yourself the cashier is slow, really is not slow. You are just in a hurry, so please be patient. The cashier is going as fast as he/she can through the large amount of merchandise. The shirt you thought would be really cute for one of your family members that you found in aisle five or a certain area of the store, but then you decide against it, should not be put in the middle of aisle nine or any other area of the store. It has a special place in the store and someone else may be looking for the size that you chose to put down in the random spot.  So please be respectful. Placing the item back where it belongs makes the process easier for both the sale associate and the next shopper. The lady next to you that took the last Life Size Barbie you wanted for your niece also has a niece that would enjoy that toy. So be kind and find another toy instead of arguing. The holiday season is about being merry and bright! You could also go check out another store to see if they have the Life Size Barbie, or shop online. When you are searching everywhere for the watch your son wanted and find an employee that is trying to help four additional costumers at the time, wait your turn. Be grateful when you get some help. Once you have all your purchases at the checkout counter, ask for a gift receipt, so when something does not fit it can be returned fast and easy. Be smart and be prepared for when that person needs to exchange a gift. Today, Black Friday, is a day filled with deals and savings, and can be a lot of fun. When out and about, please remember that the employee you may be frustrated with is giving up spending their holiday with family to help you save an extra buck! Have a great day of shopping, mind your manners and get those deals!

I wrote a blog a year ago giving thanks for how God made it possible for my newborn granddaughter to see.  Many of you expressed your support for Madelyn.  I thought it was fitting to give an update on how Madelyn is doing. Madelyn was born on July 15, 2014 with bilateral cataracts.  Because the cataracts were so dense and were located in the center of her eyes, she couldn’t see anything.  When she was only a few weeks old, she went through two surgeries--one on each eye to remove the defective lenses.  She’s been wearing contact lenses ever since. Those were difficult days, but we saw the hand of God again and again.  First, He placed us with a loving and kindhearted surgeon.  Then He directed us to a longtime friend who was not only a physician, but his specialty was a perfect fit for taking care of Madelyn’s eyes.  We were truly blessed! Madelyn is now almost a year and a half old.  If you didn’t already know, you really couldn’t tell that she suffers any kind of vision deficit.  In early October, we took Madelyn to see the fireworks at Oglebayfest.  She literally grinned from ear to ear as she watched.  From time to time, she looked over at me as if to say, “Do you see what I see, Pappy?”  It was a reminder to me of how far she’s come in just a year’s time. There will be surgeries ahead.  When she’s a little older, the surgeon will have to replace the lenses in both of her eyes.  But we’re trusting God for that too. In the meantime, I give thanks. Psalm 136:1 says:  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”  Be sure to remember all that God has done in your own life this year--big and small--and then give Him thanks!

Giving back to the community in which we both work and live is extremely important to the Bordas & Bordas family. After all, what good is success and prosperity if we don’t share it with those around us? Listed below are just a few of the many recent philanthropic sponsorships we are honored to be a part of. If you’ve set foot in our Wheeling location, you’ve probably seen at least one of our three office dogs sitting by the front door welcoming our clients. We are die-hard animals lovers here and we do what we can to protect them. That being said, the sponsorship of an event that strives to end animal cruelty was a natural fit for Bordas & Bordas. Auggie’s 5k Run and Walk is presented annually by the Ohio Valley Runners’ and Walkers’ Club and benefits the Ohio County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OCSPCA). The 5k is held each year in October and garners a lot of love and support for our furry family members. Bordas & Bordas is proud to support the Wheeling YMCA and the Light of the Valley Award luncheon that was held in August. This year, former Central Catholic High School Principal Dr. Joe Vigletta was honored with the Patron of Youth award for his leadership and decades of dedication to the school and its students. Proceeds from the luncheon will provide financial assistance for YMCA programs and memberships to the less fortunate youth in our community. Firm Managing Partner Jamie Bordas serves as President of the YMCA Board of Directors. Debbie Green, a native of Benwood, W.Va., was diagnosed with and lost a courageous battle to leukemia at a very young age. Now, some 43 years since her untimely passing, tragedy has turned to triumph as Debbie’s memory lives on in the annual Debbie Green 5k Run/Walk. Every year, participants race along the streets of Wheeling in support of children battling leukemia. Bordas & Bordas is a longtime supporter of the Debbie Green 5k Run/Walk and contributed to the cause again this year. Bordas & Bordas sponsored the Wheeling YWCA’s  “Over the Edge” to raise money for the organization and help further the mission of eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.  “Over the Edge” participants were required to raise at least $1,000 in pledges for a chance to take a 126-foot “walk” down the face of the Stone Center in Downtown Wheeling. The programs of the YWCA Wheeling assist more than 5,300 women and children each year. The Firm is honored to be involved with such exceptional groups and events. We will continue to reach out to community partners who are passionate about making a difference. As always, we encourage everyone to support these very worthy causes.

I’m sure you have all seen the TV commercials about pounds of rotten food stuck in your “gut” that only the brand of probiotics they are selling can cure and give you that flat stomach and skinny body you yearn for. Anyone who has taken an anatomy class knows that pounds of rotten food do not stay in the intestines for a long period of time. Although food does technically “rot” in your intestines by a process known as fermentation, it feeds the good bacterial that is necessary to keep us heathy and destroys the bad bacteria that makes us sick. Depending upon your metabolism, everything eaten passes through the intestinal tract somewhere between 24 and 70 hours.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have a big stomach, there is no quick fix. While probiotics can help with the good bacteria in your intestinal tract and relieve bloating, diet and exercise are the only remedies to get rid of stomach fat. If you tend to bloat, there are many things you can do to help with that. Changing your diet can help. Here are some tips to avoid bloating. http://www.webmd.com/diet/10-flat-belly-tips. My favorite ads are the wrinkle creams that will magically make all your wrinkles disappear with continued use. Apply the cream to your face daily and in six weeks “poof” no more wrinkles. I know these ads are alluring, and I’m not saying they don’t do anything for your skin, but there is no magic bullet that takes away wrinkles. If you start moisturizing young enough, it’s possible to stave off the effects of aging a little longer, but using at least a 30 SPF sunscreen every day will help the most in keeping deep wrinkles at bay. So, my advice is moisturize, moisturize, moisturize and then top it off with a healthy dollop of sunscreen. Just don’t feel you need to spend a small fortune on expensive products. Before you are pulled in by the many commercials that are on TV and start ordering items from the number or website the TV station gives you, take a minute to research what you want to buy no matter what it is. Compare ingredients before you waste your money on products that don’t work or will work just as well in a much more inexpensive form. You will be surprised that many of the expensive products have the same ingredients as their less expensive counterparts.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday and I never thought the day got the attention it deserves due to the rush and anticipation of Christmas. It seems that the retailers go right from Halloween to Christmas. I was shocked to see Christmas trees and Christmas décor being displayed in stores when I was shopping for my Halloween candy. For me, Thanksgiving is that one special day to quiet myself and truly reflect on all the blessings that have been bestowed upon me -- my precious children, my family, friends, our good health, employment, and a warm/cozy home to return to at the end of every day.  Like many of us, some of the traditions and the number of loved ones around our Thanksgiving table have changed/waned over the years due to the loss of precious family members, but even though their absence is felt, I am so very thankful to have had them in my life for as long as I did. And, the new faces that gather around our table for the Thanksgiving feast are a welcome addition and an opportunity for new traditions to be shaped. I believe it is very important to remember that although holidays may be a time for celebration and gathering of family friends for many of us, they can be a time of sadness, depression and loneliness for many. As we approach the holiday season, please keep these people in your hearts and minds; let your actions and words be kind, have patience and be generous. Happy Thanksgiving, all!