LOS ANGELES — Juan Villegas' community was still burning on the afternoon of Jan. 8. But there was one place he had to get to: Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, his alma mater.

The Pasadena middle school had welcomed Villegas as a 12-year-old from Mexico. It's where he found his footing in a strange new country, connecting with other Latino ...Read more

On Valentine’s Day, the Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools across the country giving them two weeks to stop taking race into consideration for admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies “and all other ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Dan Coulter was 12 years old when he bought his first jukebox.

The Bloomington kid wasn’t very good in academics but he liked music and he was good with his hands.

When he heard that a friend had a busted jukebox from the 1940s sitting in his family’s basement, he bought it for $25.

He took the 300-pound machine apart to ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I've been dating a coworker (we're both in our early 30s) for two months, and for the past month, I've been trying to end things. Every time I attempt to break up, he argues until I'm exhausted and emotionally shut down, then convinces me to stay by promising he'll change or telling me I'm misinterpreting his behavior. Things have ...Read more

CHICAGO — April Noga had two days to prepare for this rescue mission — save 18 pigs from a petting zoo in northeastern Illinois.

The 36-year-old had a pet pig of her own and had rescued pigs before, but she had never done a rescue mission of this scale.

“I was like, ‘OK, if I’m gonna work on this case, no pigs left behind. I’m ...Read more

Once all of the polar vortices run their course, I assure you our gardens have the possibility of becoming like a beautiful Fairytrail this year. Some of you no doubt think I just misspelled fairy tale (Microsoft Word does). I am talking about a hot new series of hydrangeas. Those of you in the know may have just gone on alert when I said ...Read more

NEW YORK — Outside the Washington Heights branch of the New York Public Library in Manhattan stands a metal post topped with an unassuming blue plaque bearing golden letters — an easily overlooked marker that’s actually a window into Harlem’s storied past.

Bearing the name Regina Anderson Andrews, it memorializes the librarian, ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Snowcapped mountains, towering pine trees and a winding dirt road cover the dining room walls. Fluffy white clouds float above the kitchen cabinets. A waterfall painted onto a slender slice of wall separating the dining room and the living room is so vivid, you can almost hear the water flowing, gurgling.

But it’s the ...Read more

The story starts the same. You like someone. They like you. You continue liking this person. This person stops liking you (or never did?) and pulls back. You like this person more. This person, feeling smothered, continues to pull back. You continue to obsess more.

Why is this, though? Why should a person’s feelings actually grow the less and...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Eleven of us — all women dressed in lingerie, silk robes and other sheer or flowy clothing — are dancing, freeform, in a circle. Spacy electronic music fills the room, which looks something like a spa tent: Faded woven carpets blanket the floor, billowy white curtains drape from the ceiling and flickering lanterns cast ...Read more

You may be familiar with high-density, or good cholesterol; low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or bad cholesterol; and their connections to heart health. But what about triglycerides? Often that word gets skimmed over when talking about cholesterol levels.

Dr. Regis Fernandes, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, says triglycerides provide the body with ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My 10-year-old acts like he can’t do anything. Yesterday he said, “I can’t open this,” handed me a box of cookies that a 5-year-old could open and walked away and started watching TV. I know I’m messing up. What do I do?

Answer: The problem with kids is that they start out as infants.

Infants can’t do anything ...Read more

Q. How do you tell someone who you have been terrible to that you want them back? Can you say you're sorry enough when you have hurt them so badly, they tell you they never want to talk to you again? My temper got the best of me during an argument, and I pushed my fiancee to the floor. She got up and walked out the door. I want to tell her I'm ...Read more

Parents and grandparents sometimes debate which musical instrument is the most painful in the hands of a beginner.

Our nomination for first place is the violin, with drums coming in a distant second. Sure, drums can rattle the windows, but only a violin can peel paint from the walls.

The xylophone, also under our roof years ago, was the ...Read more

Elite athletes don’t just train harder — they train smarter. Small adjustments to form, recovery time and nutrition can create significant improvements in performance. The same principle applies to budgeting. Once you’ve established solid money habits, the next step isn’t just maintaining them — it’s optimizing them for better ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — While visiting Flying M Coffee, one of their favorite downtown Boise haunts, Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln pretended to go to the gift shop before returning to her table with Van Beechler-Lincoln carrying a personalized flipbook that told the story of their love. On the table between them was a ship in a bottle that Van’s friend had ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — “It’s an eggs-ellent day,” Pastor John Ptak said as an orderly line formed and a light drizzle fell outside the White Knoll, South Carolina, campus of Radius Church on Thursday morning.

People lined up early for free eggs, handed out by the dozen at the weekly food pantry operated by the church.

When they heard of the ...Read more

Row, row, row my seat swiftly down the track.

Warily, warily, warily, warily, my body’s out of whack.

That’s the tune I sang to myself — because I didn’t want to scare everyone else at the gym — as I rocked and rolled on a rowing machine under the expert guidance of my very own personal trainer.

I decided to go back to the gym ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More than once he awoke in his Yuba City, California, apartment with a feeling of relief, followed by one of sadness.

Although thankful to have made it to the U.S., the thought of other Afghans who remain in limbo, including ones he worked with in Afghanistan, saddened him. He said they, like him, had been admitted as ...Read more

I surveyed my friends recently to find out what they’re doing to stay sane.

“Screaming into a paper bag,” said a friend who lives near Capitol Hill in Washington.

“Staying away from the news,” said another friend.

“Who said I’m sane?” said another.

As a massive reassembling of the U.S. government by President Donald Trump ...Read more