I like to think I’m a tough cookie, but my sweet tooth, which may have a cavity, can’t resist the treats sold every year by the Girl Scouts.

That’s why I have bought two boxes of cookies from my 8-year-old granddaughter, who represents the third generation of Girl Scouts in our family.

They include my wife, Sue, and our two daughters, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Society was shutting down.

It was March 2020, the earliest days of the pandemic in Minnesota, and major sporting events were canceled or took place without an audience.

Colleges across the state and country closed campuses, directing students to study online.

The National Guard blocked off an entire New York suburb. Elderly ...Read more

LAS VEGAS -- Today, little is known about Samuel Howard, a 71-year-old Jewish man who died in 1959 and was buried at Las Vegas’ Woodlawn Cemetery.

Other than his birthday and his date of death, not much at all is known about Howard, but that didn’t stop members of the Las Vegas Valley’s Jewish community from honoring Howard, with 53 other...Read more

Here’s what we’re not going to fall for, those of us who are taking the nation’s temperature right now and sensing an infection setting in.

It’s an infection born of intolerance and greed. And if left unchecked and untreated, it could wipe out what’s healthy and functioning and, in so many ways, still growing.

The symptoms look like ...Read more

On Monday night, Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s township council voted for hardy tomatoes and fresh flowers.

This requires some explanation.

The council unanimously implemented an awkwardly worded yet potentially powerful law known as the Agriculture-Horticulture Commercial (AHC) Overlay Zone.

It formally grants the township’s only working ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I've been broken up with my ex for almost four months now. I did everything the experts recommend — blocked him on social media, deleted his number and even asked mutual friends not to mention him. I was doing well until I realized I could still see his Spotify playlists even though I blocked him. Now I find myself checking them ...Read more

As spring approaches at jet speed and you start thinking about planting mixed containers (but perhaps with a little fear of the partnerships) keep in mind three-part harmony. It certainly works in church music, and it is perfect for gardeners too!

In the world of garden color, we call it triadic harmony. Simply put, triadic harmony is three ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- With shoulder-length blond hair, black dress and black knee-high boots, Jennifer Rose cuts a preacherly silhouette — less Bible-thumping, more New Age — standing on a small stage in the retirement community of Laguna Woods Village.

"There's a lot of spirit here already," she says. Her audience grows quiet. "So I hope you're ...Read more

You may have heard of the “burnt toast theory.” If you haven’t yet (or need a quick refresher), the idea is this: If you burned your toast while making breakfast, you need to spend another five or 10 minutes making a new piece. That extra time might be annoying and cause you to run late, but it may actually be saving you from something ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- She knew she had to go even though she couldn’t imagine moving somewhere else.

Maria Merritt has lived in El Sereno the better part of 30 years. Her little home on Poplar Boulevard served as the beacon in a turbulent life that led her to solid ground. She raised her four kids there, had a well-paid job and a spell of normal ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- None of Andrew Boisen’s initial options for commuting from his home in Tarpon Springs to Pinellas Technical College looked pretty.

Boisen has a disability that prevents him from driving a car. He could hop on the county’s fixed-route bus system — but the ride would require 30 minutes of walking and a bus transfer, lasting ...Read more

I attend a spirituality group for an hour every week that holds loving kindness as its anchor.

During the hour, we read the poetry of such luminaries as Mary Oliver and John O'Donohue. We meditate, and we talk about the ways we find to extend loving kindness to ourselves and others.

The dozen or so gentle-spirited members of this group also ...Read more

Q. My ex and I have been apart for six years. Our son is 9 and we share his time equally. For years we got along OK, but her boyfriend moved in last year and now she tapes all the exchanges. It upsets our son, and it upsets me. Today I received a notification that she is taking me back to court to revise the parenting plan we have had for six ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I am a kindergarten teacher with a challenging class. I have done PD with you, and the strategies and procedures that I have learned have pretty much made it so that I never have to worry about students’ behavior: They will either use positive behaviors or they will learn to use them next time because I use Delayed ...Read more

We have just done a school pick-up; 14-year-old twins and their 12-year-old sister are in the car with us. In a unanimous decision, we head directly to Chick-fil-A because some days the main thing you get at school is hungry. Very, very hungry.

We ordered and are seated with waffle fries and ice cream, checking off vegetables and dairy for the ...Read more

When you’re retired, you don’t live in the fast lane. In fact, my wife, Sue, and I are on the side of the road with a flat tire. The trade-off is that you can’t get fired from a job you don’t have.

Still, there has been great concern by a certain prominent person about how certain subordinate but no less important people spend their ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- MiMi Gravley works full-time, as a community relations liaison at Strawberry Mansion High in Philadelphia. She’s also a full-time college student and juggles raising her own kids and making ends meet.

Gravley is smart and motivated; she wanted to earn a college degree, but life and bills got in the way. She left college once ...Read more

A few months ago I wrote a column called "Let Loose the Chartreuse." This is my go-to color to make all companions or combinations literally "POP WITH PIZZAZZ"! In that column I dabbled here and there with some of my favorites, both new and old selections.

There is one I didn’t mention as it really deserves its own column; it offers a ...Read more

With Americans regularly scrolling, buying and selling online, there are more ways than ever for fraudsters to steal your hard-earned money.

The latest Bankrate Financial Fraud Survey reveals that about 1 in 3 U.S. adults (34%) have experienced financial fraud or a scam in the past 12 months, since January 2024. Among them, nearly 2 in 5 (37%) ...Read more

CHICAGO -- On a recent rainy morning in Chicago’s Loop, a group of visually impaired students made their way along a sidewalk, sweeping their white canes back and forth to feel curbs and planters. They stopped at a corner to listen. A CTA train roared overhead. Cars rushed in front of them. They waited. When they could hear the traffic move ...Read more