SAN DIEGO — The man with a magnetic smile beamed as he stared down at the graduation certificate in his hands. It’s coming up on two years since the arrest that landed him in jail.

The arrest, it would turn out, gave him access to what he needed and helped him to earn this framed proof of fortitude.

“Before I got arrested, I was feeling ...Read more

I first met Jason Patera in 2017 when I was at the high school he leads, Chicago Academy for the Arts, to interview Zachary Jeppsen.

Jeppsen, at the time, was a 17-year-old ballet dancer who commuted six hours a day to attend a school where he wasn’t bullied for the thing that made him brilliant. Every weekday he would leave his Wisconsin ...Read more

Winning a Perfect Score says a lot about a plant that goes through rigorous trials. But that is just what happened to one of my favorite lantanas by the name of Luscious Orange Marmalade. The location was at Oklahoma State University. Then it took the Director’s Select at Penn State and Leaders of the Pack at North Carolina State University’...Read more

LOS ANGELES — This is a story about 60 kids who lost their homes, their theater, their whole neighborhoods to the Eaton fire as it raged through Altadena on a ferociously windy night one week into the new year.

For the students of Altadena Arts Magnet and Eliot Arts Magnet schools, however, the story does not end there. Because in a ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Holly Messinger, the textiles conservator at The Arabia Steamboat Museum, carefully laid out the pieces of a frock coat, an 1850’s relic recovered from the bottom of the Missouri River.

“I am working on a frock coat that I took out of the freezer about a month ago,” Messinger said. “It’s been frozen for 35 years,�...Read more

Watching a beloved pet fall seriously ill can be heart-wrenching, especially if Fluffy or Fido becomes unresponsive. But did you know you might be able to save your dog's or cat's life by administering CPR?

"When pet owners or bystanders initiate life support, we have seen successful outcomes and the pet may go back home with a good quality of ...Read more

This article is for anyone trying to get a date with a woman. As a woman myself, and working with 65% female clients of all ages, I have the insider information on what women want when it comes to dating … and what they don’t.

I’m going to break it down in simple terms. Do any of these things, and your chances of getting a date dwindle. ...Read more

Dear Anna,

A few weeks ago, my wife’s friend’s husband (I know, classic game of telephone) told me that my wife had a brief fling with someone at work. He was scant on details so I don’t know if it was emotional or physical or how far it went. Apparently, she ended it quickly, felt awful and swore it off. She hasn’t said a word to me.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the early, chaotic days of the COVID-19 pandemic, transitional-kindergarten teacher Elizabeth Lam despaired.

She saw distracted faces when she gazed across the virtual divide to her students learning at home.

So she offered comfort.

Lam donned a set of Minnie Mouse ears. Four-year-old students who might struggle with 2+2 or...Read more

Q. My ex reminds me daily that I can’t do anything right, from paying child support on time (I’ve never been late) to how poorly I parent the kids when they are with me. She tells me about all the guys who want to be with her and how stupid I was for leaving. Every day she finds something else to complain at me about and it makes it very ...Read more

One of our granddaughters announced she is going to an ice cream parlor on her honeymoon. I thought it would be good to get that on record in case she changes her mind and starts talking about a Caribbean cruise or backpacking through Europe.

She is not engaged.

She doesn’t date.

She is 6.

To the best of everyone’s knowledge, she has ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I lead an out-of-school program for elementary school students when schools are closed. We have a particular child who has been through family trauma who brings anger and hostility into the group. We've tried various techniques with some success, but this child still becomes physically aggressive toward other kids, ...Read more

When you get to be my age (old enough to know better), it’s hard to remember things. At least I think so. I can’t remember.

So you’d think modern technology would be helpful, but it isn’t.

There’s artificial intelligence. Let me tell you something: I was born with artificial intelligence. It doesn’t work.

Then there’s the ...Read more

It started as a Facebook messenger note.

My longtime friend Wendy, who I’ve known since elementary school — through endless dance recitals and summer camp adventures and a million bad haircuts and a handful of breakups — wrote to tell me her dad had died suddenly. He would have turned 80 on April 14.

Roger DuClos added light and joy to ...Read more

Plenty of youth sports parents would love for their kids to achieve athletic greatness. Chances are they won’t grow up to be elite players. But they can grow up to become elite human beings — who stay grounded, stand up for others and lift up everyone around them.

They can grow up to become a little more like Paige Bueckers.

This week my ...Read more

My mother grew up in a beset post-Depression family that saddled her with too many responsibilities, including, from age 9, tending her three siblings while her mother worked nights as a nurse and slept days.

Among her siblings was Aunt Cathy.

Aunt Cathy was always considered "off” by my hardened grandmother, though I always wondered if she ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Some people see trash and weeds and walk on by. Others rail against the slobs of the world, or agencies that don't do their jobs.

And some, like environmental scientist Marie Massa, roll up their sleeves and get to work.

In Massa's case, that's meant spending six to nine hours a week since early 2023 working mostly alone to ...Read more

It started as a Facebook messenger note.

My longtime friend Wendy, who I’ve known since elementary school — through endless dance recitals and summer camp adventures and a million bad haircuts and a handful of breakups — wrote to tell me her dad had died suddenly. He would have turned 80 on April 14.

Roger DuClos added light and joy to ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — On a recent Saturday afternoon in the Arts District, a group of seven friends — plus a tiny dog — contorted and twisted their bodies to fit inside a light brown, 8-foot-tall box that had a mirrored door inscribed with the words "Memory Archive."

Once they were all mostly inside, they looked up toward a Canon DSLR camera that...Read more