With Your Family in Mind

The Magazine of Santa Clarita readers continue to send great questions about the voiceover business.  Here’s a recent one:
Q: Hello, all my life I’ve been told I have a beautiful speaking voice and that I should get into voice acting.  I’m 32 years old and I continue getting compliments on my voice.  How can I get started in the business? – Sylvia G., Van Nuys, CA

There are over 12 million home-based businesses in the United States, according to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Of those, more than half are underinsured.  The primary reason for this is that many home-based business owners believe their homeowners insurance covers their business.

Where a person is determined the parent of a child, but does not have responsibility for the custody of that child, California law requires that the non-custodial parent pay child support to the custodial parent in accordance with the state’s uniform support guidelines.  Once paid, even if the person conclusively proves no biological relationship with the child, the law provides no mechanism for getting that support refunded.

With more than 70,000 children removed from their parents’ home due to abuse and neglect and 119,000 children waiting for adoptive homes in the U.S., there is a great need for caring adults to provide a loving, nurturing home as either foster or adoptive parents. 

Whether the iPhone is a gigantic success or not, there is one thing that I can’t get out of my mind.  Apple is amazing at generating hysteria about their products.  Even if you don’t own a Mac, I doubt anyone reading this right now didn’t feel a tinge of lust for the iPhone.  Apple makes products that inspire a great desire from a lot of people to automatically go out and get whatever it is they’re promoting.

My new clients were a couple with grown children and substantial assets.  I had described the most important benefits of the living trust, including probate avoidance, the nomination of the clients’ chosen successor trustees, a clear statement of their wishes regarding after-death distribution of their assets and the avoidance of significant federal estate taxes.  Then they asked, “If we have a living trust, do we need a power of attorney?”

Is fear running you or are you the one in charge?  When you lament about what you wish you could do or are convinced it’s not worth it, fear runs you.  The more we feed fear the deeper it grows within. 

Congregation Beth Shalom is delighted to welcome new clergy to guide its member families as spiritual leaders.  Rabbi Ira Rosenfeld and Cantor Beth Wasserman Rosenfeld joined CBS on July 1.  This will be the married couple’s first opportunity to work together for the same congregation.

Have you ever wondered why some people always seem to land on their feet even under dire circumstances, while others seem to attract the worst of luck, no matter what they do?
The family on a budget never seems able to make ends meet, while so many of their friends have abundance in their lives.

As discussed in previous articles, Medicare does not cover the costs of long-term care for our elderly population.  Individuals who require 24-hour long-term care and cannot privately pay for this health care look to our welfare system, identified in this state as Medi-Cal, to pay for their cost of care.  At this time, the dollars being used for the benefit of the elderly within this system is greater than what is available for the remainder of the population Medi-Cal serves.  The scale isn’t evenly tipped because far more is used to meet the long-term care needs of our elderly.

“But there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues…”

This familiar lyric is from the often covered 12-bar blues classic “Summertime Blues” recorded in the late ‘50s by young rocker Eddie Cochran and hitting number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 29, 1958. 

The City of Santa Clarita began partnering with Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) last summer to remind the community that a matter of minutes is all it takes for a child to suffer tragic injury when left alone in or near cars.  The weather is warmer, which means the temperatures inside a car can reach over 100 degrees within 20 minutes. 

In a heartfelt presentation May 31, Corporal Markus Cooper, a member of the Marine unit “adopted” by West Ranch High School showed his appreciation for their support when presenting a special United States flag to them. 

Most of us look forward to summertime and vacations with our children.  So, why is it that divorce can turn the golden months into tarnished experiences?  Aside from the too often intrusive emotional baggage, divorce brings an abundance of add-on complications.

How may we best protect our families, while allocating our resources sensibly?  By carefully considering the needs of our families, we find our answers and earn some peace of mind in the process.

Most seniors enjoy Medicare, which is our government’s health insurance plan.  Original Medicare (Medicare Part A and B) has been viewed as somewhat limiting.  Many seniors enroll in a Medicare HMO (often referred to as a Medicare Part C or Advantage HMO Plan) in an effort to reduce their out-of-pocket medical costs. 

Most people don’t know how easy it is to use a Mac.  I feel that so many people would own a Mac if they just knew how easy it is to get things done on a Mac.  As the owner of ValenciaMac, I have had the opportunity to witness a transformation in many of our customers.  

Matching an adoptive child with a potential family is not easy.  There are several factors to consider, including the child’s age, gender, health, history and special needs as well as how the child might fit in with a family’s interests, activities and beliefs.  Children’s Bureau developed a matching team approach for placing adoptive children with families and has noticed a higher rate of success of children staying with families.