CHICAGO -- Camille Billie said when she first moved to Chicago from her reservation in Wisconsin in 2018 to start studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she felt “lost and overstimulated coming from Oneida Nation.”

Through school, she found and signed up for the Native American Student Association and, from there, was able ...Read more

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Standing in the dim light of Las Palmas, the Palm Springs micro-brewery and go-to gathering spot for young locals in the low desert, floral designer Sesar Orozco found himself in a circle of friends, some of whom he knew would be there that night, others who just happened to show up.

Rey Romero, the co-owner of the ...Read more

Dear Anna,

My fiancee and I have been together for three years, and I thought everything was great. Last night, however, during dinner, she brought up something that completely blindsided me: the idea of us each having a "pass" to sleep with someone else before the wedding. She said it would be healthy for our relationship and help us start our...Read more

SEATTLE — Dagmawi Haile-Leul left the King County Jail on foot, carrying his belongings in a plastic bag, trying to keep his legal paperwork from getting soaked in the October rain.

He was released later in the day than expected and by the time he arrived at Africatown Community Land Trust's Benu Community Home — the only shelter in Seattle...Read more

CHICAGO — Tim Norris’ 16 chickens enjoy free rein in his Irving Park neighborhood backyard when he lets them out of their coop in the morning. A few perch on chairs or the fence on his porch, others meander through the Joe-Pye weed plants and a rooster named Buffy plops himself in a hole for a dust bath.

While the group tends to stick ...Read more

The Garden Guy has been part of a lot of coleus trials over the years, but I don’t remember seeing one like ColorBlaze Mini Me Chartreuse, which will be making its debut in 2025. I gave it casual mention in a column recently, but I am certain it deserves its own column. Hopefully you will see why.

First off it is an electrifying color of ...Read more

“Should sex with one person mean you stop going on dates with other people?”

This is a question someone asked me recently. In my line of work as a dating coach, things come up in all areas of the early dating process—how to use the apps efficiently, what to do/say on a first date, when/what to text, how to build connection and chemistry, ...Read more

Q. My husband’s 8-year-old daughter has a birthday this weekend and she decided she would like to take a few friends to the movies and then out for frozen yogurt around the corner from our home. My husband and his ex-wife plan to take her and I was not invited. What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. Let’s clarify something first. Your husband’s ...Read more

Three of our elementary-school grands have a new landline phone sitting in their family room. They called us multiple times the first week it was installed, each time saying, "Hello, Watson?"

No, they didn't. Each time a soft voice cautiously said, "Hello, Grandma?"

The poor things were apprehensive. A handset that rests in a base alongside a ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kirk Nelson walked outside recently to check on the honeybees he’d been tending for about six years, and got a stark surprise.

One of the two colonies in his backyard in Orono, Minnesota, had buzzed out of its hive — the queen, workers and drones alike — leaving nothing behind but honey.

“We had been out in the hive two ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The brides wore running gear — sneakers, comfy shirts, and, for one of them, a black ball cap that said “I Do.”

Kara McElvaine and Shelbie Turner got married Saturday while running the Philadelphia Half Marathon, exchanging vows every mile, smiling through the finish line.

“We decided to celebrate being each other’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The text arrived midday, saying a delivery to me was on hold. To fix the problem, all I had to do was click on a web link and enter my ZIP Code.

"Have a great day from the USPS team!" the text said.

The awkwardly worded message (with bad punctuation and an international phone number) was clearly not from the Postal Service. ...Read more

Twas the night before the night before my daughter was arriving home from college for Thanksgiving break.

I left the office early to finish my workday from home because my 8-foot, artificial, pre-lit Costco Christmas tree was being shipped to my apartment building between 3 and 5 p.m. and I needed to meet the delivery guy in the lobby so he ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have three middle school students in my math class who are just belligerent. I think it may be because they see that I now have control of my classroom, and they don’t want to be in a room where everyone is learning and not messing around. They also mock the other students who are being cooperative. Per the training I’...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- Like a new kid in town, Beverly Giffords walked across the parking lot toward Largo High School anxious about who she’d meet inside and what it would be like.

The 73-year-old retiree carried her blanket, some photos she’d grabbed from her trailer at Encore Vacation Village and the windshield sunshade from her car, so she’d ...Read more

The holidays bring happy times — but also financial burdens. And more than ever this past season. While inflation is easing, prices for just about everything are still considerably higher than they were pre-pandemic.

In fact, Bankrate’s 2024 Holiday Shopping Survey found that 28% of holiday shoppers say they are stressed about the cost of ...Read more

When it comes to shaving, I’m two-faced. One face I have been scraping with a blade since I was a teenager more than five decades ago, the other I recently started buzzing with an electric razor.

Neither face will make me a Hollywood star unless I stop shaving altogether and get the lead role in a remake of “The Wolf Man.”

So I left it ...Read more

ATLANTA -- After a contentious election cycle, many people look forward to the holidays as a time to reset. But some of us dread talking about politics with certain family members. Producer Natalie Mendenhall spoke to Drew Westen, a professor emeritus at Emory University and a licensed psychologist.

Here’s that interview with tips for you on ...Read more

GOODSPRINGS, Nev. — The line to enter the Goodsprings General Store snaked down state Route 161, sometimes spilling out into traffic. Wait times stretched well past an hour. Thankfully, there was nourishment nearby in the form of smoked iguana sandwiches and the ever-popular mole rat on a bun.

Thousands of video game fans descended on the ...Read more