ArcaMax

'PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE'

Rated PG for mild action/peril.

What it’s about: A platoon of pups who protect the citizens of Adventure City face off with a mad scientist and a meteor.

The kid attractor factor: The wildly popular kids show and previous movie — it's animated, cute and aimed right for young audiences.

Good lessons/bad ...Read more

We are past due for a review of basic manners and civic responsibility.

Such reviews used to happen every nine weeks when schools sent report cards home. At the bottom of the report card was a box titled "Citizenship."

Teachers placed check marks indicating "satisfactory" or "needs improvement" for categories like: courtesy, self-control, ...Read more

Using settlement money from opioid manufacturers and distributors, the Lake County, Illinois, Regional Office of Education is proactively developing an opioid education program ahead of statewide changes to how the subject is handled.

“Hopefully, Lake County is a leader in this going forward, as we’re going to have quite a bit of these ...Read more

Whether it’s a nurse in your own family, or one who’s gone above and beyond, it’s natural to want to show your admiration and gratitude with a gift. However, it can be challenging to find the perfect gift.

Stethoscopes and scrubs are popular gifts, but if you’d like to find something that’s a little more personal — that gives space ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG — It’s a Saturday night at The Bends in August, the kind where you could not cram one more sweaty body in the back of the bar. Everyone has shown up early, craning for a glimpse of Spoiled Rat. Until a few songs in, when bassist Summer Strickland decides to come to them.

Summer, 23, has hovered toward the back of the stage ...Read more

The nursing shortage is a pressing issue affecting health care systems around the country.

The number of registered nurses in the U.S. is projected to decline by 1 million by 2027, according to a study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

The Biden administration has taken several steps to address the issue. Most ...Read more

'EXPEND4BLES'

Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout, language and sexual material.

What it’s about: The fourth installment of the geezer teaser action franchise sees some new faces joining the crew as they embark on another mission.

The kid attractor factor: The broad action movie appeal might be a draw for teens.

Good lessons/bad ...Read more

This is one of those situations for which you could never fully prepare.

We are waiting for a grocery pickup order. Our oldest daughter, who has been pulling carpet from stairs, is slumped in the driver's seat riddled with exhaustion. I'm in the front passenger seat, offering commentary on the happenings around us, and three granddaughters in ...Read more

Q. We pay child support and all med/dental bills, even though my husband’s ex is supposed to pay half. She says she can’t afford it. So she and my husband made a deal that she will just pay co-pays when she takes the kids to the doctor or dentist. I know she has a job. She works at Ross when the kids are at school. But, we are getting ...Read more

Ever hear the expression "So many lessons, so little time"?

Neither did I. But with so much to unpack in Shawn Samuelson Henry’s marvelous debut YA novel "Made in Maine" (Woodhall Press), it’s an appropriate way to characterize and celebrate this multi-pronged, issues-jammed teenagers’ search for their true selves and souls. It’s ...Read more

DALLAS -- “Please, God, forgive me for the times I was judgmental about someone who used drugs. Forgive me for thinking badly about their families.

“I get it now. This can happen to anyone.”

Dreika Harris has leaned on prayer since fentanyl killed her 20-year-old son, Dontrell, in their Frisco, Texas, apartment almost two years ago.

She...Read more

Edward Challita, 5 years old at the time, was deprived of his childhood. All he knew was a great tragedy was taking place — all he would ever know of his childhood was war.

Challita describes his harrowing experience of growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, during the country’s civil war — everything from the constant threat of bombs falling ...Read more

"we sacrifice relationships and burn bridges in the name of self-preservation … but who is really in control when our hands are forced?"

Are we the masters of our own narratives? Who pulls the strings in our lives?

These are the very questions Allen Vartanian asks in his newest collection of contemporary poetry, "marionette." Filled with ...Read more

School is back in session and, for some parents, that means learning how to get a quick and nutritious breakfast into their children's stomachs before they head out the door.

I don't have school-aged kids anymore, but I sure remember how difficult it was after getting them dressed, readying their backpacks and making them brush their teeth to ...Read more