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Family guide to new movie releases
'THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS'
Rated PG-13 for action/violence and some language.
What it’s about: A quartet of superpowered scientists try to save the world on the retro 1960s Earth-828 planet.
The kid attractor factor: The comic book origins, superheroes and spectacle.
Good lessons/bad lessons: We can only save the world — and each...Read more

Ex-etiquette: 'Dad never feeds us!'
Q. Each time my son goes to see his father, I get a phone call telling me there is no food in the house. My son tells me he’s starving. “Dad never feeds us!” He’s 14! He needs to eat.
I don’t want my son to be hungry and since I rarely talk to his dad, I just call Grubhub and have something quick like McDonald’s delivered. Then I ...Read more

Lori Borgman: How a hot grandma became a cool grandma
When I was a kid, we didn’t have air conditioning until we moved from Nebraska to Missouri. People in Nebraska used open windows and fans to cool a house back in the day.
My Aunt Adeline, a resourceful woman, cooled a big house, a husband and six kids with nothing but a bowl of ice in front of a window fan. That was the Cornhusker version of ...Read more

Haunting contemporary gothic blurs the line between fantasy and reality
Have you ever read a book that you wished would never end? That’s the kind of book "The Island" is, and it’s a rare find.
Written by Amazon bestselling author and filmmaker Kerri King, this speculative fiction novel follows the emotional journey of Mack, a novelist-turned-fisherman, whose sailing trip with his wife, Lily, takes an ...Read more

5 game-changing books shaping the future of medicine
The American health care system stands at a crossroads — fragmented, costly and often failing the very people it aims to serve. Yet across hospitals, tech startups, policy labs and patient advocacy groups, a new wave of reformers is reshaping the future of medicine.
These five books offer critical insights into how we can build a more ...Read more

Hidden identities and global conspiracies revealed in dark thriller
A shadowy elite plan to enslave the world will succeed if good people do nothing … but in J.H. Jones’ ambitious and imaginative "Rogue Unit: Awakening," there are still a few good men and women willing to fight back.
David Smith, an Office of Naval Intelligence investigator posing as an accountant for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and...Read more
Spouse Caring For Wife Still Makes A Difference
Q: Following my retirement, I used to have time to volunteer. I've tried to make a point of being a positive influence on people. But since my wife got sick last year, most of my energy goes to caring for her. How can I still make an impact on others?
Jim: I'll start by emphasizing that I firmly believe you ARE making an impact on others -- ...Read more
Praying That the Camp Mystic Families Find Meaning in the Madness
On July 16, 1945, the United States detonated the first nuclear bomb in New Mexico on what's now the White Sands Missile Range. About 40 miles away from the Trinity test site, a group of girls at a dance camp were thrown from their bunks in the explosion. Thinking a water heater had exploded, they ran outside and saw a strange summer snow ...Read more
Planned Parenthood clinics in Colorado resume treatment of Medicaid patients
DENVER – Planned Parenthood clinics in Colorado temporarily resumed treating patients covered by Medicaid on Wednesday after halting primary care for about 5,000 people last week.
Clinics canceled appointments for more than 900 patients because congressional Republicans’ new tax-and-spending law — previously called the One Big Beautiful ...Read more
When a Kid Doesn't Want to Go Outside
As some readers of this column may have noticed, I keep gently reminding (or perhaps the word is hectoring) parents to step back to allow kids to step up. But what if a kid doesn't WANT to step up ... or even get off the couch?
This happens often enough that I'm reprinting the note from a mom worried about this. She wrote to say:
"My son loves...Read more

'I already want to cry': Undocumented parents prepare for the unthinkable: Giving up their kids
LOS ANGELES — Sonia's son has been anxious lately, crying and asking why their neighbor had been picking him up from preschool instead of his mom. She doesn't know what to tell him. At just 4 years old, he's too young to understand the truth.
Sonia has lived in the U.S. without legal status for 25 years, harvesting squash, cilantro and ...Read more

Family guide to new movie releases
'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER'
Rated R for bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use.
What it’s about: A group of friends are wracked by guilt after a terrible accident and start receiving ominous anonymous notes.
The kid attractor factor: Teens will be drawn to the slasher about young friends. ...Read more

Debra-Lynn B. Hook: Childhood and the secret of the creek
It is nearing twilight, and I have come home to stand at the edge of the woods.
My ears at first can only pick up the chirping of crickets and tree frogs in the still of the South Carolina summer evening.
But then, daring to move in closer, I hear what I came for, the sweet trickle of the little creek that winds its way behind the woods and ...Read more

Planned Parenthood says Trump's megabill targets thousands of Virginians' health care
NORFOLK, Va. — Thousands of Virginians use Medicaid at Planned Parenthood health centers across the state for reproductive health care services every year. But a provision in President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” could cut off those people from accessing services using federal support.
The organization serves roughly 25...Read more

Lori Borgman: First words may now include 'charge it!'
Parents are giving credit cards to children so young that some of them aren’t able to make their own beds or cross the street alone. These newly minted cardholders are buckled into car seats whenever they travel and wear water wings at the pool but have credit cards linked to their parents’ account.
One mother said she and her husband added...Read more

Ex-etiquette: Funeral etiquette
Q. I’m wondering if I should attend my former mother-in-law’s funeral. I have had no contact with her since our breakup, years ago, but my children remained close to both their dad and their grandmother. According to my kids, their dad is pretty broken up by the passing and I am concerned he may not be much comfort to the kids (adults now) ...Read more

A grumpy-sunshine, nerdy-steamy romance you didn’t know you needed
Romance authors have such huge and wonderful imaginations. If anyone thinks that because romance has a formula that it’s boring, you couldn’t be more wrong. And with all of the hockey romance that’s out there, you would think that because it’s so niche, that there couldn’t be a different take on the subgenre. That’s where you’re ...Read more

A feminist coming-of-age that’s quiet, powerful and unforgettable
Marianna Marlowe’s "Portrait of a Feminist" isn’t your typical feminist memoir. It doesn’t shout its message or come armed with statistics and slogans. Instead, it invites you into the quiet, powerful moments that shaped one woman’s identity across years, continents and cultures. Told in a series of beautifully written personal essays ...Read more

Character-driven historical thriller is a stirring triumph of conscience and courage
Set in the shadow of World War II during the Berlin Airlift, this sweeping, character-rich work brings the past into sharp focus — not just in terms of facts and figures, but in the emotional stakes of those who endured one of the Cold War’s earliest and most decisive confrontations. The result is a moving, deeply human story about standing ...Read more
Small Goals Build Big Dreams
Q: I have some big goals in life. But sometimes I get almost overwhelmed by the scale of the things I want to accomplish. How can I keep my momentum and focus?
Jim: Some years back I was watching a television broadcast of the U.S. Open -- one of professional golf's biggest tournaments. As the final round was getting underway, somebody asked ...Read more
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