Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 29

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL LIVING INSIDE Dear Abby and puzzles, 2E Robert Boyd, 4E TVmovies, 6E Comics, 7E I RGJ.comblogs: Read about a Sun Valley gig at Misc. Debris. HEALTH Tuesday, July 1 8, 2006 RGJ.comHealth TREATMENT FOR MACULAR DEGENERATION but at what cost? Help's in sight, SECTION The last word about fresh corn I don't know how to put this gently, but I've been shopping at farmers' markets and I've realized the average person knows less about selecting produce than a hog knows about a sidesaddle. On Saturday, 1 watched a guy go through half a bushel of corn' to w' find four ears 1 that were 1 acceptable. I bought six of his rejects, t-Vir irQra aiiu vyi.1l delicious.

4 ---fc LISA J. TOLDARENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Herb Wheeler poses on the deck of his Zephyr Cove home Thursday. Wheeler was involved in clinical trials for Genentech's new drug for wet-type macular degeneration and has regained his vision after treatment. Company stands at center of storm over two drugs UN 1 Miss Nevada crowned in Mesquite BY SIOBHAN MCANDREW smcandrewrgj.com Mesquite had a little extra help heating up this weekend when 14 of the state's young women competed for the Miss Nevada title. Miss Clark County, Caydi Cole, 21, took home the title and will go on to compete in the 2007 Miss America pageant.

Miss RenoSparks Caleche Manos was awarded runner-up. "It was just such a wonderful year with so many amazing young women," said Nancy Ames, executive director of the Miss Nevada organization. The pageant was held Saturday night at the CasaBlanca Resort in Mesquite, 80 miles from Las Vegas. Dates and a location for the Miss America pageant have not yet been announced, but CMT and the Miss America Organization will document the contestants through pageant preliminaries in Los Angeles in September. "We're looking forward to shooting the series in the L.A.

area, which gives us access to great locations and will provide some real excitement for all of the contestants," said Paul Villadolid, vice president of programming and development for CMT. "We plan ON THE to produce WTiB Preliminaries MISS AMERICA: i i Go to www. like never. missamerjca. betore, with org a keen eye towards showcasing the hard work and dedication of these accomplished young women." The documentary will be a seven-episode series that follows the 52 Miss America finalists.

Last year, for the first time in Miss America's 85-year history, the pageant did not take place in Atlantic City. It made its debut in Las Vegas. Nevada has never taken home a Miss America crown but has come close: In 1987, Stacie James of Las Vegas was named second runner-up. In 2002 Teresa Benitez of Reno was crowned third runner-up. "We aren't sure where the pageant is going to be," said Ames, hinting that a little home field advantage couldn't hurt.

"I'm just saying I hope it's really close." PUBLICITY PHOTO Miss Clark County, Caydi Cole, was Crowned Miss Nevada 2006 on Saturday in Mesquite. r- if i -if fe-j, t-i rs I BY JASON HIDALGO jhidalgorgj.com Several questions about cost and the manufacturer's motives are dampening for the first approved drug that reverses a potentially devastating eye disease seen in the elderly. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Genentech's new drug, Lucentis, in June for the treatment of "wet type" age-related macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people age 60 and older and affects more than 1.6 million Americans, according to the Peaches iaivlci cfarleyrQ.com get the same OPINION mauling.

A good peach (supermarket shoppers: You may never have seen one) is the highest expression of the fruit grower's art. Yet people handle them like Whiffle balls, poking them, then muttering "ripen in a paper bag." Let's clear that up, shall we? A peach doesn't ripen off the tree, if by "ripen" you mean increase its sugar content. What it does is soften. A fruit-knowledgeable relative told me this is "the first step in decomposition." He ate peaches often, but he picked them ripe from the tree five minutes before slicing them into his Cheerios, and the trees near the house weren't the same variety he had out in the orchard. He also raised strawberries, though the climate in the Santa Clara (later Silicon) Valley wasn't ideal.

Most of those went to roadside stands, the kind you used to see with hand-lettered signs reading "fREsh bERKy's" (the spelling was a matter for discussion: When did honest simplicity slip into As with peaches, he had a small kitchen plot, with berries that would start riots today. But this is a corn column, and since I'm the Reno area's leading authority on what I want corn to taste like, I'm going to give the Final Word on that. Here are the rules; ignore them at your peril: Choose yellow com when you can. White dominates the market, because it's sweeter and holds its sweetness longer. The problem for me is that it doesn't taste like corn eateri off the cob, and it's too sweet for most dishes I cook with kernels.

Look for pale green, fresh tassels; skip dried or brown ones. Forget that stripping-the-husks trick. All that tells you is if the ear was fully pollinated, which you can feel through the husks. Why wreck the guy's corn for the next customer? White corn is almost always sweet, if sweet is all you want. To test yellow corn, peel back a thin strip of husk and pierce a kernel with your thumbnail.

Watery, clear juice means it's immature. Pasty, thick juice means it's past its prime. Milky, cloudy juice? Keeper. Also, if you've been boiling corn, try roasting it, husk and all, over indirect heat on the grill or at 350 degrees in the oven, then finish with fresh lime juice and a shake of cayenne. No going back after that.

board. Morse said he doesn't own Genentech stock and doesn't gain financially from the company. One thing practically everyone agrees on is that Lucentis has a great effect no previously approved drug by the FDA for macular degeneration has been shown to reverse damage from the condition. But what's being criticized by a growing number of patients and many eye specialists not just in the United States but around the globe are the circumstances surrounding the new drug. At the root of the criticisms are comparisons SEE DRUGS ON 5E Kristofferson also touched on topics ranging from love, family and relationships to spirituality, history and current events.

He mixed in some humor, too, mainly about his age. "It's really awful when you get old, and you can't even remember the first line of your song," he told the crowd. But Kristofferson's words are meaningful to folks such as Charles Webb, 65. He traveled overseas from his London home to see Kristofferson in Reno and California. "1 am totally addicted to Kris Kristofferson's lyrics and his presentation," Webb said.

"I have been for 35 years." "We've lost Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, and now Kris Kristofferson is 70," said Webb, referring to the Highwaymen supergroup. "I want to see as much of him as I can." said Dr. Lawrence Morse, a professor at the University of California, Davis. "It is estimated that the wet type is responsible for 200,000 cases per year of vision loss in the United States," said Morse, who oversaw one of the clinical trials for Lucentis. "If we can use Lucentis to treat those people not even counting the ones who already have the condition) it could have a significant impact in patient's lives.

This is a real turnaround and is probably one of the most exciting things to happen on this front." Morse is a consultant for Genentech and is on the company's medical advisory REVIEW of 800 cheered. Kristofferson is a former U.S. military member, and his father was an Air Force general. "I've just got to wonder what my daddy would've done if he'd seen them turn the truth around," Kristofferson's musical message goes. A Country Music Hall of Famer, Kristofferson hit all of his career highlights during the Reno show featuring more than 30 songs he wrote.

"Me and Bobby McGee" (performed by Roger Miller, Janis Joplin), "For the Good Times" (Ray Price) and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (Johnny Cash) are just a few. Along the way, Kristofferson paid tribute to numerous musicians, including Cash; Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Joplin, George Harrison and Ray Charles. ASSISTANCE COSTS: If you need Lucentis but can't afford it because of lack of insurance, call Genentech's Single Point of Contact at 866-724-9394 and ask about prescription drug assistance. INSIDE: Read about how to detect and prevent macular degeneration on Page 5E. Mayo Clinic.

Although the wet type accounts for only 15 percent of all macular degeneration cases, it is responsible for most of the severe vision loss associated with the disease. The rapidly progressing wet form is responsible for 90 percent of the vision loss from macular degeneration, MUSIC Kris Kristofferson was inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk on July 6 in Los Angeles. song "Don't Let the Bastards (Get You Down)." "It's getting hard to listen to their lies," he sang. Many in the estimated crowd i AP Old seems new at Kristofferson concert BY DAVID JACOBS djacobsrgj.com When Kris Kristofferson secured his place in country music history, a Texan was president and-American soldiers were dying in a divisive war overseas. Fast-forward 40 years.

Another Texan is in the White House, the United States is at war again, young American soldiers are dying far from home and the country's divided. Kristofferson, now 70, is keeping up with the times. He made that clear during a nearly two-hour concert Sunday night in Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch Regional Park. Not mentioning President Bush by name, Kristofferson sang of "righteous killing in the name of freedom" in his modern-day anti-war V.

CALENDAR WHAT'S HAPPENING: Get the scoop on today 's events, and be sure to do the crossword puzzle, too. 2E INSIDE HEALTH FEELING FIT: So if you exercise a lot and feel healthy, does your weight still matter? Some athletes are asking that question. 3E THE INSIDER SEPARATE BUT TALKING: Jennifer Aniston says she wouldn 't mind a "Friends" reunion, and Brad Pitt says he likes being a dad. 6E AP mm.