CHICAGO — Government reports tend to make for less-than-scintillating reading. That’s the nature of the beast. Data can be dry.

But for the better part of the 20th century, the covers of these reports were works of art.

“Transporting Watermelons in Bulk and Bins by Truck,” a 1982 report for the Department of Agriculture, features an ...Read more

Planting season has begun in earnest in the South and, as they say, it will be matriculating your way wherever you live. I visited a garden center this week and it took my breath away with the giant selection. There was the new Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz Petunia too.

With the addition of Cool Jazz, the Vista group has grown to seven and now ...Read more

MIAMI — South Florida has no shortage of fitness centers — but how many teach you to get kicked in the gut and then properly fall? Or tumble onto the ground from a high-wire? What about getting pushed around on a crash mat?

Miami Action Design, co-founded by a Miami native, is carving out a unique niche as the region’s first stunt studio....Read more

When Chelsea Clinton finished the Boston Marathon on Monday, I had a surprising (to me) reaction.

Something like pride, I suppose. Though I played no role in her run. Something like joy, I suppose. Though that doesn’t quite capture it. Something like satisfaction. Though that's not quite sufficient.

I’ll start here: My grandmother loved ...Read more

Dear Anna,

My husband and I opened our marriage about six months ago — something we'd talked about for years and finally decided to try. We did everything "right": read the books, had the long conversations, established our agreements. But six months in, the experiment seems to be working for exactly one of us. He has two new partners he sees...Read more

As a dating coach, I get a lot of questions along the lines of, “Are there questions I can ask early to know if someone’s for me long-term?” Or the more blunt, “How can I tell early if I’m about to waste my time?” (For starters, that attitude isn’t helping.)

I’d like to explain an analogy I use called Chicken Nugget Theory.

...Read more

The world can be a difficult place for women, people of color and poor people, says UK-born mogul Emma Grede — and she's been all of those things, so she knows.

Today, Grede is best known as a serial entrepreneur whom "Forbes" named one of "America's Richest Self-Made Women" in 2025. She's the chief executive and co-founder (with Khloé ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A humorous take on the challenges, joys and chaos of raising a son on the autism spectrum will be presented by Megan Dolan in Poway on Sunday afternoon.

“Not the Right Mom: A Full Spectrum Comedy” will be performed at 4 p.m. on April 26 in the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

“All the experiences are mine, except for ...Read more

My desk drawer is a mess. It’s always a mess. Even after I tidy it up, it reverts to a mess as soon as I close the drawer.

I think it’s because I do things quickly. I move fast and mess things up fast. But even if I slowed down, it would still be a mess, just a mess on slow bake.

My desk is considered communal property in that it sits in ...Read more

The accident happened in Pittsburgh on Nov. 16. Joseph Masterson, a lawyer who was just days from retiring at age 63, suffered cardiac arrest while driving, plowed into a guardrail, and lost consciousness.

Other drivers stopped, broke the car window, and pulled him to safety. A passing volunteer firefighter performed CPR until an ambulance ...Read more

Q. My girlfriend and I are moving in together, and while cleaning out her garage, I found a box of photos of her with other guys — except most of the guys are cut out, so it’s basically her with a random torso on a boat, her with a random torso skiing... Do I say something? What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. Ah, the archaeological dig of a ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My 4-year-old is not yet potty-trained, and because of this, I can't send him to preschool. He has no medical or physical issues, and he completely understands how to use the toilet, but he just doesn't WANT to. He's very strong-willed. I’ve tried every kind of convincing, lecture and pleading I can think of. Obviously, I ...Read more

If you think your kids grow up fast, wait until you have grandchildren. I didn’t have to wait long for this revelation because my oldest grandchild is already a teenager.

If that weren’t enough, she and my four other grandkids are more mature than I am. It was true not only when I was their age — the youngest are 6-year-old twins — but,...Read more

Tyesa Walton remembers her senior prom at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.

She wore a black and gold gown that she bought with savings from her McDonald’s gig. Her aunt paid to have her hair done, and her uncle served as chauffeur.

“He put on a top hat and drove us in a Lincoln Continental,” ...Read more

Dear Anna,

My girlfriend and I (both mid-30s, both queer women) have been together for almost two years, and our relationship is solid — we communicate well, trust each other and have a great sex life. Recently, we’ve been talking about the possibility of having a threesome. Neither of us has done this before, and we’re both genuinely ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Bill Rosales had struggled for months to ask for help by the time he got a call from a high school friend. The Chicago firefighter desperately needed a kidney transplant to treat a rare genetic disorder.

He hadn’t spoken much in several years to the friend, Jason Fuggiti, who also happens to be a firefighter in the southwest ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — She was already a poet, she just didn’t realize it. Sunny Rey Azzarito was in the fourth grade and struggling a bit in school when her teacher looked at one of her assignments and saw creativity where someone else may have chosen criticism.

“I have audio processing disorder, so it’s kind of like a cousin of dyslexia, and it ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Admission: I suffer from eyestrain. Even right this very second. As a reporter working on a computer more than eight hours most days, my eyes often feel fatigued and itchy by evening.

I'm not alone: More than half of the U.S. population lives with computer vision syndrome, also known as digital eyestrain, and nearly 16.4 million...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ownership of a tortoise, like life itself, has its downsides. Mona Heflin knows both well.

Slim Shady, her roughly 70-pound, 22-year-old sulcata tortoise, farts loudly, sometimes knocks her down and has forced her to find him after absconding in her North Highlands neighborhood when her front gate was left open. Still, ...Read more

The National Garden Bureau has chosen 2026 to be the Year of the Sedum. It is always the year of the sedum at The Garden Guy’s house. As I pulled photos for this column, I was stunned by the beauty, and in this case, it is Lemon Coral sedum.

I quickly came up with 30 photos, which is about 25 too many, but I’ll submit around 9 and see what ...Read more