Many of my estate-planning clients grasp the importance of wills, living trusts and financial powers of attorney but feel unprepared when the conversation turns to quality-of-life for their final years.

In the 1970s and again in the 1990s, the nation became engrossed with end-of-life issues when the media grabbed hold of the stories of Karen Ann Quinlan and, later, Terri Schiavo.

When Shelley Tabar’s father fell off her roof, she became his primary caregiver and subsequently lost nearly half her income.

Somewhere between board meetings, the kids’ soccer practice and family doctors appointments, women are ignoring an essential task: taking care of their hearts.

For business owners like Zennes Faljean, the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Obama’s federal health care overhaul marked far more of a beginning than a conclusion.

At a conference in China in November 2010, Harris Lewin and Richard Michelmore approached Jian Wang, the president of global genetics company BGI, with an informal question: Could they interest the world’s largest genomics research institute in building a lab at UC Davis?

Bill Mueller, 47, is CEO and managing partner at Valley Vision. One of four partners in the regional Next Economy initiative, Valley Vision serves as the project manager of the Capital Region’s latest economic development effort.

Both invasive and minimally invasive procedures carry significant risks of complication, so its important to research physicians and find out whether they are licensed in the surgeries they perform.

Rollie Swingle didn’t have treatment options for his stage IV prostate cancer.

Last fall, for the first time in his life, Nicolas Ridout, 58, removed his shirt in front of strangers and went for a swim. This was not the first time a t-shirt had marked a personal milestone.

In the past few months, Sacramento County’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry has been slashed by two-thirds. Federal and local officials are slapping landlords with fines and criminal charges if they lease or rent to such establishments. In August, Sacramento County was home to 99 medical marijuana dispensaries. By November, more than 63 had closed.