Friday night at the Cinema was a treat — and not because of an Exotic Marigold Hotel screening. Instead, our own Zero Hour Jazz Lab performed professional music, the likes of which are wonderful to hear in Elk Rapids. Led by Dave McKeon, the ZHJL sparkled through crisp orchestrations punctuated by passionate solos.

Thanks go out to Joe Yuchasz, owner of Elk Rapids Cinema, and his staff for donating the theater for this awesome event.

The ZHJZ rehearses prior to the start of classes during the school year, and it now relies entirely on community support for funding. So please find a way to help this group prosper. Call Dave McKeon to find out what you can do.

How much do senior citizens rely on Social Security? Even more than you might think. A new study finds that more than 46 percent of Americans die with less than $10,000 in financial assets, with many spending the end of their life strongly dependent on the government.

“Many of these households also have no housing wealth and rely almost entirely on Social Security benefits for support,” says the study, co-authored by MIT’s James Poterba, Dartmouth’s Steven Venti, and Harvard’s David Wise. WaPo

And this is happening prior to the Baby Boomer bulge that many worry about. What happens here? Are adult children today not willing or able to take care of their aging parents? If so, regardless of your political views, it puts an enormous burden on Social Security.