I have long said that before I fell in love with journalism, I fell in love with journalists.

It started at my college newspaper at Eastern Illinois University, where I walked in as a freshman and asked for a writing assignment and immediately, happily, found a kind and merry band of misfits, pranksters, contrarians, question-askers, fact-...Read more

The summer plant trials are famous not only for introducing new plants to whip us into a frenzy but also new recipes, mixes or combinations to try not only in the landscape but in hanging baskets and planters too! One such recipe is called Pebble Beach and each selection or variety in the mix is an award winner.

The first variety is Superbena ...Read more

CHICAGO -- At least once a month, Rita Leary incorporates food into a science lesson at Ashburn Community Elementary School. On a recent Thursday, it was all about honey. Sticky, sweet, viscous, varied in hues of light to dark amber.

“Do you guys think it will taste like it smells?” Leary asked her mixed class of sixth, seventh and eighth ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Click-clock. Click-clock.

The rhythmic sound of a metronome fills a 12,000-square-foot warehouse-turned-wellness space in Marina del Rey. The room is dimly lighted but for yellow and red string lights that produce radiant, shimmying splotches on the concrete floor.

About 55 women stand in a circle, hands crisscrossed on their ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Once they were like you: obsessively checking apps after their children’s tryouts, dutifully schlepping kids and gear bags to practices and games, or wildly shouting from the bleachers.

Then the kids grew up, and they gained perspective. Some accumulated regrets.

We asked parents whose children have aged out of youth sports ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Horse racing makes Heidi Sheridan nervous, worrying whether the animals will get hurt. But now Sheridan is taking lessons and learning to ride a former racing thoroughbred, not for business, but for pleasure.

“I never in a million years thought I would own a horse,” Sheridan said. “My husband wasn’t a big fan, but he showed ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Here’s how you create an elite athlete: Wake up at 5 a.m. Run wind sprints uphill. Endure your coach’s yelling. Tally 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. Train in the offseason. And if you can’t cut it, you’re out.

That was part of the culture of American youth soccer when Ted Kroeten rose up as a coach decades ago. He ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m a 50-year-old woman. I’ve been married to a woman for almost 14 years, and we’ve been sexless for about 10 of those years. We recently opened up our marriage and I’ve been thoroughly surprised by wanting to be with men for the first time ever. Long story short, I met a man who’s wonderful and sexy and provides all kinds...Read more

This week we have questions ranging from the courtroom (divorce… nothing that scandalous!) to the bedroom….

Question: A match says he's separated but divorce not final yet (almost). Avoid? Alarm bells ringing.

Answer: I don't like absolutes. Especially if someone has children, certain states/countries require you to be legally separated ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Cities are ever-changing organisms, shedding elements of the past while retaining others. Striking the right balance is the challenge, and it’s easy to feel cynical about the moneyed interests driving so many changes that remove, bit by bit, the idiosyncrasies of our surroundings.

Which is why it’s a pleasant surprise to learn ...Read more

CHICAGO -- For years, Maria Johnson slipped into Chicago Public Schools classrooms as a volunteer parent, an extra set of hands to help students sound out their reading. She can’t recall exactly when she started: Her eldest son is now 22.

“I was not only trying to be there for my son, but I wanted to be there for other children, because I ...Read more

Q. My son’s mother and I broke up seven months ago. She’s already living with someone else. He’s a felon and I’m furious that she’s dating someone like this. If he wasn’t in the picture, I’m sure we would have gotten back together. We have a 5-year-old son and I let him know every day that his mother has chosen this guy instead of ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

Why do my 4- and 6-year-old insist on being on their absolute worst behavior when we go to visit family? We live several hours away from most of our family members, so we don't have time to visit very often. I want to be able to enjoy the time with my relatives — but my kids make it impossible as they are just all over the...Read more

After our son grew up and began carving out a life of his own, he left home as young men often do. It was about 21 years, one month, 17 days, three hours and 10 minutes ago, but who’s counting?

He married a young woman whose passion for camping, hiking, dogs, night skies and the great outdoors matched his. After tying the knot, they fled to ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Rene Garner cried even before the doors swung open Sunday to admit visitors to the last-ever day of operation for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

“I feel so sad,” said Garner, a retired educator who brought classes to the museum for years and credits her son’s love of science to summers spent learning...Read more

If I ever won the lottery, I’d never collect the money. That’s because I would drop dead from shock. Then my wife would be a rich widow.

But since I haven’t even come close to hitting the jackpot, and the price of beer has gone up, I was willing to take the risk. So I sought the advice of Dr. Brown, a self-described “lottery doctor” ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport is celebrating the birth of a rare red panda, allowing visitors an up close view of one of the world’s rarest endangered animals.

The zoo recently celebrated the successful birth of the its first red panda cub. Born during the overnight hours on June 24 to its parents Ponya and Pilot, the zoo...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Looking for more space than a Sacramento-area house can provide? Consider purchasing a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The town of Belden — roughly 36 miles northeast of Chico in the Plumas National Forest — is up for sale by its current owner for a modest $4.75 million.

Ivan Coffman, the town’s owner, ...Read more

The day after President Donald Trump announced he was banning CNN, Politico and MS Now from the White House, I moderated a panel called “Truth, Trust and Today’s Media,” hosted by the Glenview Public Library and arranged months prior.

The panelists were Brandis Friedman, chief correspondent and anchor of WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” ...Read more