Garbage in, garbage out has been my motto through almost five decades of marriage. It’s only fair since I am the one who creates most of the trash in our humble household. So I have to take it out or I will be kicked to the curb, too.

That’s why my wife, Sue, who would be doing the kicking, is happy that I have been curbed of a messy habit ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Babygirl, a young dachshund and chihuahua mix with long, golden hair, became homeless during the pandemic. So did her owner, and he searched far and wide for a shelter that would take the two of them.

Yet many programs in San Diego County only accepted humans.

“That was my deal breaker,” said Benjamin Noss, Babygirl’s 51-...Read more

CHICAGO -- Vivid blues, yellows and reds make the brick facades along West 18th Street pop. Paintings of faces, birds and other subjects draw foot traffic into alleyways and eyes onto the side of buildings, which house a mix of mom-and-pop shops, taquerias and chains like Dunkin’.

The paintings are evidence of Pilsen’s mural movement, which...Read more

Q: I bought a Frigidaire refrigerator last year. Seven months later, we started having issues with the freezer showing a “HI temp” error. We’ve had several warranty repairs done — they replaced the thermistor, the step valve, and the main control board. Every time I thought it was fixed, the error came back within weeks and I lost our ...Read more

ROCHESTER, Mich. — It's a Tuesday morning at Oakland University in Rochester, and political science professor Dave Dulio is discussing the First Amendment with his Civil Discourse class.

As he paces in front of about two dozen undergraduate students who come from a range of backgrounds and ideologies, Dulio gives a brief history of how the ...Read more

Zone 8 gardeners may feel a little timid when it comes to growing tropical hibiscus. That is somewhat understandable, but as I wrote about creating a hydrangea heaven, your hibiscus dazzle may come from the partnerships you choose.

This will be my third year growing four selections of the Hollywood Hibiscus series. The series now totals 14, if ...Read more

You may have heard: Taco Bell is getting into the beauty business.

Because nothing says clear skin like Cheesy Gordita Crunch and Beefy 5-Layer Burrito.

The fast-food chain announced last week that it would be introducing "Mountain Dew Baja Blast Under Eye Patches" later this year. (Yes, really.) The news came at Taco Bell's Live Más Live ...Read more

This would be a terrible time for us to abandon books.

Every time I read another story about students asking ChatGPT to summarize a novel or high school reading scores hitting a new low or books disappearing from classrooms, I worry not just for our attention spans and critical thinking skills and ability to keep charming little bookstores open...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- While many fear artificial intelligence is going to steal their jobs in the manufacturing sector, a Connecticut university has a different idea.

The truth is, “No, a person who understands AI is going to replace you in your job, ” said Jennifer Ricker, associate director of Southern Connecticut State University’s Office...Read more

Whether it’s at work, in our personal lives or even something as specific as cooking dinner every night, we all experience burnout at one time or another. So, it’s no surprise that online dating is no exception to the rule.

Finding a romantic relationship may feel like the top priority at times, but that is going to be a lot harder if you�...Read more

Dear Anna,

I could use your help. I rent a parking space during the workweek from a very charming woman who lives in the building across from my office. A coworker connected us through the doorman when I was looking for a space.

From the first time we spoke, there was a … familiarity. She asked if we’d met before. She’s always been kind ...Read more

Q. I see my daughter every other weekend, and it's not enough. I saw her more often before I took my current job, but I now work the swing shift and get home at 11 p.m., Monday through Friday. I'm thinking about changing jobs to an 8-5, moving to another county, and then applying for full custody. Her mother can have every other weekend and see ...Read more

In this Age of Review and Return, almost 93% of all shoppers read reviews before making a purchase. Even though we review before we buy, we often return the purchase after it arrives.

There was a time when returns were a rarity. Oh, there were exceptions, but you had to face a stern clerk, who often consulted a stern manager. Now, you just ...Read more

To effectively write this column and do my real job (going around the country teaching adults strategies and procedures for working with kids), I keep my powers of professional perception sharp by often visiting a Variable Stressor Family Interaction Lab (VSFIL), where I can see parents interacting with their children under varying levels of ...Read more

The first call came just before Thanksgiving last year. She didn’t recognize the phone number, but she answered anyway.

“The person said he was an officer of the Department of Criminal Investigations looking into drug trafficking and money laundering,” the woman recalled. He seemed to know a lot about her: the states where she and her ...Read more

Blood, goes a familiar idiom, which can now be applied to this familiar idiot, is thicker than water.

That’s why I needed approximately a gallon of water — as well as a box of Kleenex, two Band-Aids and a styptic pencil — to stanch the flow of blood that reddened my face after I cut myself shaving.

The slice of life occurred when I ...Read more

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Every Wednesday evening, Honey Cooper packs her art supplies and heads to class. Not at Kimbark Elementary, where she spends her days, but at San Bernardino Valley College, where she finds a seat near the front, among students nearly twice her age.

The 10-year-old fourth-grader from San Bernardino is paving the way ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Before the doors swung open at the ICNA Relief Food Pantry in suburban Glendale Heights on a recent Thursday, volunteers in lime-yellow hi-vis vests were putting out large boxes of vegetables and fruit and trays of breads, buns and a few smatterings of cookies from a nearby bakery. Families were lining up, ready to come inside two or ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Unlike most career-defining ideas, Tara Pike’s came to her while rifling through a dumpster.

In the ’90s, Pike had abandoned her hopes of becoming a journalist after what she says was an aimless semester at the student newspaper, then called The Rebel Yell. Pike needed a mentor.

Her soul-searching just so happened to coincide...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- In a few weeks, tens of thousands of fans will begin making their way back to Citizens Bank Park for another season of Phillies baseball.

Of course, it’s easy to think of Philly fans as the stereotype often associated with them — passionate fans who once threw snowballs at Santa Claus, boo their own players, and intimidate ...Read more