CALIPATRIA, Calif. — The little desert town of Calipatria, known for its state prison, is a humble place.

It struggles with poverty. It's in the middle of Imperial County, where the 20% unemployment rate is California's highest. And some days, its dusty air carries the stench of the polluted Salton Sea eight miles west.

But if you call ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- When David Brown moved from Chicago to Los Angeles this summer, one of the first things he did was download an app that aims to "fight big-city loneliness."

The 35-year-old sales director had seen an Instagram ad for Timeleft, which matches users with strangers for dinner via a personality algorithm. Since he only knew a handful ...Read more

By 2033, about 30% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are expected to still be in the labor force, while 10% of people ages 75 and older are expected to still be working, according to projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 57% of workers across all generations plan to ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- Kids ran across the dark field behind the mosque toward a pile of trash. They had to quickly decide if an egg carton belonged in the recycle, compost or trash bin. Then, each one ran back to the kids waiting to continue the relay race.

“We need to go one at a time,” Nawal Abuhamdeh called out over the noisy din of about 40 ...Read more

Six-months ago I wrote a column introducing you to the Art & Sol collection of mangaves, which was having a soft release with a full debut occurring in 2025. If you are not familiar with mangave, it is a cross between the agave and a plant called the manfreda, both native to the Southwest.

The taxonomic hierarchy has recently determined that ...Read more

Dear Anna,

When it comes to gifts, my boyfriend of two years kinda phones it in. For my birthday last month, he gave me a gift card to a coffee shop, which was sweet, but I work from home and don’t even drink that much coffee! Last Christmas, I got a generic piece of jewelry that wasn’t my style at all. I’ve tried to tell myself it’s ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- For a certain cohort of Minnesotans, Christmas isn’t Christmas without Swedish meatballs, Swedish sausage, herring, lutefisk and lefse. And in Minneapolis, the place to shop for these things is Ingebretsen’s, an East Lake Street stronghold of Scandinavian culture since 1921.

As Dec. 25 approaches, the queue for the meat ...Read more

Q. I don’t hate my ex, and I’d like to get him a little something for Christmas. What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. I have multiple answers to your question. Do you have children or not? Using the children as qualifiers, that will help determine my answer.

If you don’t have children, how will the present be received, and what is the ...Read more

It’s 11 p.m. on Tuesday, and you’re wrapping up a first date. And it was a pretty good one! It ends with a hug goodbye and tentative plans to get together again for dinner early next week (you know, if you ever hear from him again). As you climb into your Lyft and give a final wave to your date, you’re excited that after a string of "mid" ...Read more

Q. My son recently married a woman with four children. They also have a baby together, my only grandchild. We are expecting a lot of company for the upcoming holiday, and I have asked my son to bring my grandchild but leave his wife’s children at home. There’s just not enough room. Now he’s refusing to come, and I’m broken-hearted. What ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Diners at Sweetgreen in Willis Tower, get ready to meet the chef of the future: a robot that makes your salad to order.

The California-based chain is launching its automated Infinite Kitchen system this week at the busy Loop restaurant, putting an assembly line of robotic chefs to work preparing bowls of everything from Kale Caesar ...Read more

PAYNESVILLE, Minn. – The red wooden doors at Salem Historical Church have been tightly sealed and locked for most of the last half-century.

But on Saturday night, the doors were a portal to the past: Inside were twinkling holiday lights and a pine tree that stretched to the ceiling, its boughs draped in silver tinsel. A sugary aroma hung ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My freshman son is well-behaved and loves school, except for fifth period. That class is taught by a long-term substitute and has been all year. My son has been a pretty accurate reporter so far in his life at school, and he says that the substitute does not have lesson plans and student behaviors are pretty bad. The ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Grinch steals the spotlight each holiday season, with his green grimace and his heart that's two sizes too small. His tale has inspired movies, musicals, games, and fashion since he first appeared in 1957 — but today, one green diva in Philadelphia is snatching the mic to tell her own story of how the Grinch stole, and ...Read more

Jeff Kromrey, 69, will sit down with his daughter the next time she visits and show her how to access his online accounts if he has an unexpected health crisis.

Gayle Williams-Brett, 69, plans to tackle a project she’s been putting off for months: organizing all her financial information.

Michael Davis, 71, is going to draft a living will ...Read more

The kitchen becomes my primary place of residence the week before Thanksgiving and continues straight on through New Year's Day. I should probably file a change-of-address card with the post office.

The kitchen counter is littered with crumpled dish towels, soiled hot pads and towering stacks of dirty cookie sheets and mixing bowls. Pots ...Read more

When you get to be a certain age — in my case, old — you tend to run hot and cold, which not only is true but also rhymes.

The reason is that no matter what the temperature is inside or outside, it’s either too hot or too cold.

That is why my wife, Sue, called a technician named Joe to come over and fix the upstairs thermostat, which had...Read more

From toys to toaster ovens, regifting has become the new normal for some people. One in 3 Americans (33%) say regifting holiday gifts is acceptable.

Still, regifting has traditionally been considered tacky. So what should we do this holiday season?

To get the truth about regifting, I went to my personal etiquette expert — my mom, Betzi ...Read more

WILSON TOWNSHIP, Minn. – The last time the Catholic church here faced an existential threat was on New Year’s Eve 1935, when the church was set ablaze. Not even a trace of its sacred vessels was found in the debris.

The hardship of the Great Depression did little to deter the congregation. Within weeks, parishioners were rebuilding. Men of ...Read more

This will be Craig and Donna Mindrum’s first Christmas without their son Jonathan. He died in January at age 36, leaving their family with a gaping wound where a son and a brother and an uncle should be.

Nothing will fill it, but time and talking may help it heal, Craig Mindrum figures. Hopes.

“It’s got to get better,” he said a few ...Read more