January started off cruel and stayed there.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day when a driver intentionally slammed his truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans. The suspect died in a shootout with police, leaving families forever shattered and a nation rattled.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- John O’Sullivan was surrounded by studio lights, a gigantic screen and professional cameras. Producers fiddled with them, giving him just a minute before filming.

But a minute is all O’Sullivan needs.

Without warning, without rehearsal, he pulled out his cellphone and filmed a “sneak peek” that he’d later post to his ...Read more

Richard Weber III proudly comes from a long line of Western Slope ranchers, and on a recent bluebird day with subfreezing temperatures, he looked the part. Standing amidst a crowd at the Ouray County Fairgrounds, Weber wore a red button-down shirt and blue jeans with a sparkling silver belt buckle.

On his feet, however, were a pair of ski boots...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- After 90 years of breeding and selling rare camellias and azaleas to customers all over the world, Nuccio's Nurseries in Altadena is expected to close by the end of 2025. But the ongoing Eaton fire and its ashy aftermath don't appear to be offering the ending the nursery's owners had in mind.

The Eaton fire swept into the Chaney ...Read more

If you were lucky enough to get through the L.A. wildfires with your home still intact, you might be facing another problem: that smell.

As anyone who ever tried concealing the clingy smell of cigarettes from their parents may remember, the acrid odor of smoke is hard to hide and harder to remove. Here are experts' answers to all your smoke ...Read more

January started off cruel and stayed there.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day when a driver intentionally slammed his truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans. The suspect died in a shootout with police, leaving families forever shattered and a nation rattled.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minneapolis resident took the Twin Cities’ dreary January days into his own hands, creating a winter wonderland while waiting for snow.

Nate Rylander is known for amusing his Longfellow neighborhood with creative holiday displays. This month, he spent five freezing days sculpting water into ice. He blanketed fence post stakes...Read more

Now that Christmas and New Years is over it is time to have a little talk about the North Pole. No, I am not referring to the home place of St. Nick, but North Pole arborvitae, Proven Winners Landscape Shrub of the Year for 2025.

While indeed it may correctly be classified as a shrub, many of you may think of it as a tree. North Pole arborvitae...Read more

Virginia Wyne Hammond, a family therapist, was living a contented family life. Her work ethic had brought her professional and personal success. Her long marriage to Wade Hammond III, a Philadelphia schoolteacher and former police officer, was peaceful. In 1977, they moved from West Philadelphia to Bryn Mawr and sent their two sons to Haverford ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Lance Sugarman keeps a secret up his sleeve that’s as sweet as his last name. It’s one about his past and his present, his family and his city, and his undying love of Christmas.

If he believes you to be a kindred spirit who loves Christmas, or Philly, or Christmas in Philly as much as he does, Sugarman will share his secret...Read more

As a dating coach, I sometimes have mixed feelings about what I learn in my job: On the one hand, I’m glad people feel comfortable enough with me to ask the questions they may not want to share broadly or ask their friends/family. And, on the other hand, well, sometimes I wish I didn’t know what goes on in the darkest depths of someone’s ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I recently started dating someone who's polyamorous. I've always been monogamous but I find myself intrigued by the possibility of exploring this with her. However, I'm worried about jealousy and whether I'm considering this for the right reasons. How do I know if I'm genuinely open to polyamory or just afraid of losing her? — Mono...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- As buildings and brush continue to smolder in Los Angeles, a toxic soup of smoke, chemicals and particulate matter is being spread across the region by gusty winds, prompting a surge in interest in air purifying devices.

Web searches for "air purifier for wildfire smoke" in Los Angeles have increased by more than 5,000% since the...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Eight decades after her family’s liberation from a Nazi labor camp, Reva Kibort sometimes feels the urge to call one of her four older siblings to ask something. A forgotten name of an uncle. A detail about their mother.

Then it dawns on her that she cannot. She is the only one left.

Kibort, 91, is the last living sibling from...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Thousands of online GoFundMe fundraising campaigns have been created to support the victims of the devastating wildfires that have scorched portions of Los Angeles County, but officials are warning to be on the lookout for fraudulent GoFundMe accounts.

Since the first wildfire ignited Tuesday morning, GoFundMe campaigns created ...Read more

Saturday morning began with a video text of one of the grands doing a wild gymnastics routine on an exercise mat in the middle of their family room. She was lunging, flipping and cartwheeling (barely clearing the sofa, the TV and a younger sister’s head), all to the soothing strains of “Who Let the Dogs Out?”

The antics culminated in a ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have your book. There’s a lot in there about building relationships with students, and I’m wondering where to start. What is the single best way to build relationships with my first-grade students?

Answer: It will surprise you to know that I did not put the single most important and effective way to build ...Read more

Q. My son is 9. His mother and I broke up a year and a half ago. Although we absolutely do not get along, we have been trying to share his time. We exchange every few days. Each time he has to leave my home, I see the happy little boy slip away. Sometimes he tells me he doesn’t want to go, but he can’t tell me why. I told his mother, but she...Read more

I started crafting — knitting — at the age of seven. My family was stationed at a military base near Suffolk, England, in the 1970s, and knitting was a required class at my elementary school.

But my crafting career almost ended before it began, because I despised knitting. Lucky for me, the teacher recommended I try crochet instead, and the...Read more