Brad Stolz cherishes every moment he has with his 92-year-old grandmother, Marion. She’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Bradley, I love him," Marion said. "The best grandson ever. Well, they're all good.”

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior. Stolz says he tries to visit his grandmother whenever he gets the chance.

“Dementia gets a lot worse when they don't interact with people," Stolz said. "I saw that with another grandparent of mine where he was very isolated just because of the circumstances and kind of where he ended up being later in life. And he declined very quickly.”

Social isolation among older people was already a problem before the pandemic. COVID-19 has only made the situation worse.

Farhana Ferdous, who is an assistant professor at Howard University, recently released a report that analyzes the impact of COVID-19-related social distancing requirements on older adults living in long-term care facilities.

“There has been a growing body of research about the social isolation and how it is associated with anxiety, depression and faster cognitive decline,” Ferdous said.

She calls social isolation a public health threat that increases a person’s risk for dementia by 40%. Jim Herlihy with the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado says a person's quality of life is significantly better when those with dementia have social interaction.

“The people who have been isolated, we've heard from their loved ones who said, ‘I've seen my mom or my dad decline faster than I've ever seen them,'" Herlihy said. "And it becomes a spiral.”

That’s one reason why Memories in the Making was created. Herlihy says Memories in the Making is designed to help people with dementia recreate memories through watercolor painting.

“Drawing and art taps into parts of the brain that are still more active than maybe the verbal centers and gives people a chance to tap into memories and express themselves and give them a way to communicate,” Herlihy said.

Kelly Nixon has led the class as an administrator at her facility for six years.

“Once they start that process of painting something, you can generally pull a memory from what they're painting,” Nixon said.

Although the classes were put on hold in the thick of the pandemic, Nixon says she continued with one-on-one sessions.

“But a one-on-one isn't the same as them being together," Nixon said. "Being with each other is really what it's all about to get those memories and to share those memories with everybody.”

Nixon says she loves seeing friendships build through the class.

“You can really see the anxiety lift off of people by being around people that are of that same mindset,” Nixon said.

"The social aspect, I think, definitely helps to keep her sharp and keep her engaged on a day-to-day basis,” Stolz said.

Because of his past experience with his grandfather, Stolz says his family didn’t let the pandemic keep them from visiting Marion. He says he’s happy to see his grandmother is in good hands.

“I was thrilled when I got here to see that she, not only is she, you know, being a part of it, but she's actually enjoying herself and, you know, enjoying the conversation and sort of putting some of her thoughts and ideas on paper,” Stolz said.

 

CINCINNATI —

Local artist, educator and owner of Not Your Average "Paint and Sip" mobile unit, James Reynolds, designed and prepared the mural concept for today's event at Court Street Plaza downtown.

"This season, more than any other, is about appreciating and celebrating our community," Reynolds said. "Our mural will be a wonderful expression of Cincinnati's vibrancy, diversity and fraternity."

The event on Saturday afternoon was created to invite and inspire local residents to come together as a community to share and express their inner artist.

Court Street Plaza served as today's canvas, which produced a community-created mural honoring the city of Cincinnati.

Along with the community-wide mural painting, there were also performances by local musicians, coffee stands, and even take-home crafts, inspired by the new mural.

The free event was one of several community-produced holiday events in the FOUND series. FOUND is a collection of creative and engaging holiday events aimed at bringing the community together in Cincinnati's urban core.

You can catch a glimpse of the new mural at the storefront below the Stanley & More Flats located at 11. E. Court Street.

You can find more events produced by FOUND here.

HIGHLAND COUNTY, Ohio —

One person is dead and another was injured after a two-vehicle crash in Paint Township.

It happened around 2:08 p.m. when highway patrol officers responded to Keplinger Road off of U.S. 50.

There, they discovered the two-vehicle crash.

Officials said a driver, identified as Douglas Hurt, 62, was driving down Keplinger Road when he failed to yeild to a stop signa nd was hit by another car.

Hurt was taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The other driver suffered minor injuries.

No drugs or alcohol are suspected at this time, OSP said.

The crash is under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

HILLSBORO, Ohio —

An officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is being remembered for his strong work ethic and passion for the job.

Jason Lagore died Tuesday night of an apparent heart attack while responding to a rescue at Rocky Point Lake in Highland County.

"He assisted on countless, countless search and rescues, bringing closure to families and also finding people and being able to help them," said LaGore's friend, Shaun Lentini.

Tuesday night, LaGore was trying to help a teenager who fell into icy water.

Around 6:30 p.m., a 13-year-old boy started screaming for help near a private dock. A nearby contractor heard his cry and called 911.

"I'm at Rocky Fork. I had some little kid come up to me and said his sister's in the water dead," the caller said. "He come running up to us saying, 'Somebody please help me, please help me.'"

The Paint Creek Joint Fire District responded to the scene.

"By the time our crews got there, she was under the ice," said Lt. Branden Jackman.

Jackman said they called in additional units from Hamilton and Franklin counties to help.

"The water was 36 degrees. Ya know, you look at water and think, 'It's just water.' A 36-degree water is no different than a three-story house fire. They'll both kill you just as quick," Jackman said.

The 16-year-old's body was recovered about four-and-a-half hours later. The coroner said she drowned. He is waiting until all of her family members are notified before he releases her name.

Sometime during the rescue-recovery mission, LaGore fell in the water after suffering a medical emergency. First responders tried to save him. He died at the hospital. The Highland County Coroner said preliminary results indicate LaGore had a heart attack.

"It affects us all. We all feel it because we're all family," Jackman said.

Lentini said LaGore had a big heart and big vision. He said LaGore began the K9 program for the division of parks and watercraft at ODNR and has since led the first K9 academy. He had worked for ODNR for the past 15 years.

"He was well respected. He did a lot of training around all of Ohio. He worked with a lot of organizations with search and rescue," Lentini said. "When he wasn't working, he loved hunting. He was a guy that I went over his house for dinner and he'd send me home with some deer."

Lentini said LaGore was a big family man. He is survived by his wife, Michelle, two small sons and his K9 partner, Sarge.

The FOP Lodge 149 has started a fundraiser for LaGore's family. More information can be found here:

https://www.unit2.org/jasonlagorek9

William Stoehr is a world-renowned artist. His technique involves spilling paint and water onto a canvas.

“I like to say that the drip that’s created may be random or an accident, but what I do with it is not,” Stoehr said.

The subjects in his giant paintings are victims, witnesses and survivors. His artwork has a purpose.

“Somehow, I had to cause people to not just respond, but to maybe take some action or to feel differently about a subject,” Stoehr explained.

He wants to end the stigma that comes with addiction.

“My exposure to it really was through my sister. And this is my sister here. This painting," said Stoehr of one of his paintings. "And she overdosed. She had been suffering from alcoholism and addiction for probably 30 or more years. She succumbed and it was tragic.”

His own life experience with his sister, who he calls ‘Emma’ in his artwork, is what drives him to make a difference in this world.

“I learned that it was very difficult," Stoehr said. "One, for our family to talk about this, but two, for my sister to seek help. And it was because of the stigma. In fact, one day, she said she was evil. She’s not evil. She had a disease.”

Neuroscientist Nora Volkow has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain. She’s the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“People still think that people are doing this to themselves,” Dr. Volkow said.

Dr. Volkow uses imaging to understand the changes in the brain that addiction causes. She compares it to the way our bodies memorize a pleasurable response every time we eat or drink water. It motivates our bodies to continue doing those things without thinking about it because it’s necessary for survival.

“But drugs have the capacity to generate and stimulate artificially those same systems creating this strong memory that leads you to want to take the drug the next time you are in the same environment,” Dr. Volkow said.

Dr. Volkow and Stoehr are working alongside each other to change people’s perceptions of those struggling with addiction. They say art communicates emotion and a way to see things differently. Stoehr uses specific methods in his artwork to make people connect.

“It just grabs you as an emotion. I mean, these large faces,” Dr. Volkow said about Stoehr's artwork.

Stoehr says neuroscience taught him that people react strongly to a face with prominent eyes. Moreover, the ambiguity in his paintings forces people to fill in the blanks, allowing us to see ourselves in the paintings, too.

“They are no different from us," Dr. Volkow said. "They feel like us and reach out to you to sort of feel that empathy, to generate that emotional reaction to them as opposed to what we do in society, which basically just rejects them and stigmatizes them and sort of looks the other way.”

Stoehr's art also connects with survivors of addiction and encourages them to seek help. His art is what led his sister to rehab.

“I had tried everything," Stoehr said. "I was at wit's end, and you know, just trying to remain calm and tell her I loved her. And I went up to her door and I said, ‘I’ll paint you a portrait if you go into rehab’. The door opened just a crack and she said yes."

When survivors look at his art, he says they can relate.

“A woman looked at one of my pieces and she said that I knew exactly how she felt and that she wanted to die," he recalled.

Even though his art may seem dark and solemn at first glance, they also portray hope.

“She said that she looked at the very same piece the next morning and saw hope in the woman’s eyes. And then she said, ‘you saved my life.' Now, if that only happens once, I’m a success as an artist.”

Stoehr says he plans to continue his quest to normalize the conversation surrounding drug abuse.

"I don’t want people to feel bad," Stoehr said. "I want them to respond, to understand, to understand that they’re not alone and then to seek help. To take action.”