by Bill Hyden

Although the topic of yearly income tax returns might lead to apprehension for some seniors, they can worry less about finding a reliable person to do their taxes next year. That's because the Internal Revenue Service plans to implement new requirements for paid tax preparers beginning in the 2011 tax filing season. Dan Boone, IRS media specialist for Alabama and Tennessee, said that all paid tax preparers will have to be certified under the new rules.

by Kathleen Fox

Ageism creates awareness of the need to defend oneself.

They become more aware that some age-related weakness, whether physical or mental, can make them more of a target for criminals.

Many seniors are choosing to protect themselves with pepper spray, tasers, baseball bats and, of course, firearms.

John Thomas, 85, a resident of Memphis for 60, years, says, "It's a wonderful feeling to know we have this weapon, but the last thing I ever want to do is to shoot someone."

by Brown Burnett

Buddy Chapman says the only explanation for his optimism is what he calls a "Don Quixote complex." Chapman, executive director of CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County, laughs when he says that but for more than three decades, the former Memphis Police Director, like Cervantes' fictional character, has been "tilting at windmills."

However, this 68-year-old modern-day "knight-errant" jousts with crime in Memphis - past, present and future.