THE LATEST LIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lifestyle

Nurmaa, the wife of herder Agvaantogtokh, rounds up their sheep, in the Munkh-Khaan region of the S...

Pastoralists have raised livestock in harsh climates for millennia. What can they teach us today?

SUKHBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — The half-crescent moon glowed in the predawn Mongolia sky as Agvaantogtokh and his family began preparing for yet another big move with their animals. On horseback, he rode to a well with nearly a thousand sheep and goats. Occasionally, he and his wife, Nurmaa, stopped to help struggling young ones, weak […]
5 months ago
FILE - Students work in the library during homeroom at D.H.H. Lengel Middle School in Pottsville, P...

Many parents don’t know when kids are behind in school. Are report cards telling enough?

Nearly nine out of 10 parents believe their child is performing at grade level despite standardized tests showing far fewer students are on track, according to a poll released Wednesday by Gallup and the nonprofit Learning Heroes. Report cards, which many parents rely on for a sense of their children’s progress, might be missing the […]
5 months ago
FILE - Minnie and Mickey Mouse perform for guests during a musical show in the Magic Kingdom at Wal...

Disney says it has $40 billion economic impact in Florida as it battles DeSantis in court

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney on Tuesday released a study showing its economic impact in Florida at $40.3 billion as it battles Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees over their takeover of the district that governs the entertainment company’s massive resort in central Florida. Disney accounted for 263,000 jobs in Florida, more than three […]
5 months ago

Vehicles with higher, vertical front ends raise risks for pedestrians

Motor vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends raise risks for pedestrians, according to a highway safety organization. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that whatever the nose shape, pickups, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars […]
5 months ago
FILE - Palestinian kids, who were displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, watch a p...

For news organizations, the flood of Gaza war video is proving both illuminating and troubling

NEW YORK (AP) — A camera livestreaming the skyline of Gaza City captures streaks of light. Dash-cam video from a car in Israel spots a killer coming into view. A satellite identifies tank tracks in the dirt, and a mall security camera catches the moment a bomb in Gaza detonates. While journalists’ access to the […]
5 months ago
A visitor views items on display at the Lady Bird: Beyond the Wildflowers exhibit at the LBJ Librar...

Projects featuring Lady Bird Johnson’s voice offer new looks at the late first lady

DALLAS (AP) — Texas college student Jade Emerson found herself entranced as she worked on a podcast about Lady Bird Johnson, listening to hour upon hour of the former first lady recounting everything from her childhood memories to advising her husband in the White House. “I fell in love very quickly,” said Emerson, host and […]
6 months ago
A page from the National Council on Aging website is shown in this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 9, 20...

How to talk to older people in your life about scams

NEW YORK (AP) — This summer, Daniel Goldstein’s 86-year-old mom got an email that looked like it was from her bank. She was alarmed because she hadn’t spent the money it mentioned, so she called a help number on the email. The person on the other end of the line asked for her bank account […]
6 months ago

Jezebel, an incisive feminist voice since the height of the blogosphere era, is shutting down

NEW YORK (AP) — Jezebel, the sharp-edged feminist website that found an impassioned and devoted following at the height of the blogosphere era but ended up struggling with its business model, is shutting down after 16 years, its parent company announced Thursday. It is the latest gender-focused media site to fold as the media industry […]
6 months ago
FILE - Bret Harte Retirement Inn residents make their way down to the dining room for lunch, May 6,...

The Census Bureau sees an older, more diverse America in 2100 in three immigration scenarios

By the end of the century, the U.S. population will be declining without substantial immigration, older adults will outnumber children and white, non- Hispanic, residents will account for less than 50% of the population, according to projections released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The population projections offer a glimpse of what the nation may […]
6 months ago
FILE - Homes leveled by the Camp Fire line Valley Ridge Drive in Paradise, Calif., Monday, Dec. 3, ...

5 years after California’s deadliest wildfire, survivors forge different paths toward recovery

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — On the day Paradise burned, Gwen Nordgren stopped her car just long enough to rescue a young woman escaping by foot. By that time on Nov. 8, 2018, the sky was black even though the sun had been up for hours. Both sides of the street were on fire as Nordgren […]
6 months ago
Writer and activist Judy Branfman stands by a map she created as part of a gallery installation at ...

Lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach neighborhood inspires activism and art

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As more and more of her friends and neighbors found themselves priced out of rental units in Venice Beach, Judy Branfman began photographing the dozens of houses, bungalows and apartments being sold, renovated and then relisted at double or triple the cost. Branfman started with only the vague idea that she […]
6 months ago
standard time bill...

Daylight saving 2023: Here’s what a sleep expert says about the time change

CHICAGO (AP) — Brunch dates and flag football games might be a little easier to get to this Sunday, when phones grace early-risers with an extra hour of rest before alarm clocks go off. The downside: Next week across most of the U.S., the sun will set well before many folks step foot out of […]
6 months ago
Deneffy Sánchez, 15, rests on a bed he shares with his mother and little sister just feet away fro...

At 15, he is defending his home and parenting his sister. One young man’s struggle to stay in school

LOS ANGELES (AP) — This was the summer Deneffy Sánchez was supposed to learn algebra, biology and the other ninth grade classes he failed last year because he was too depressed and overwhelmed. But advancing to 10th grade had to take a back seat for now. He had more pressing concerns. It was June. Deneffy, […]
6 months ago
Emery Lankford, a 4-year-old preschooler at Hillcrest Developmental Preschool, takes a break from s...

Idaho left early education up to families. One town set out to get universal preschool anyway

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — After reading a book about the five senses to a semicircle of rapt 4-year-olds, Abi Hawker tells the children in her afternoon preschool class that she has a surprise for them. She drags a small popcorn maker onto the carpet and asks them to consider: Which of their senses might […]
6 months ago
The old St. Nicholas Church stands in Eklutna, Alaska, on Oct. 12, 2023. A three-year restoration e...

Anchorage’s oldest building, a Russian Orthodox church, gets new life in restoration project

EKLUTNA, Alaska (AP) — The Russian Orthodox church on the outskirts of Alaska’s biggest city is packed with treasures for the Christian faithful: religious icons gifted by Romanov czars, panels of oil paintings and jewel-studded incense burners. But outside the hand-hewn log sanctuary, dozens of miniature Alaska Native spirit houses sit by aging gravesites alongside […]
6 months ago
Bryant West poses for a portrait on a basketball court built by NBA star Devin Booker, who went to ...

Boys graduate high school at lower rates than girls, with lifelong consequences

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — They attend the same classes with access to the same programs, and even come from the same families. But girls consistently are outperforming boys, graduating at higher rates at public high schools around the country. The gap between them is wide, often as wide as the achievement gap between students from […]
6 months ago
An assortment of Halloween candy is shown in this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 in New York....

Less boo for your buck: For the second Halloween in a row, US candy inflation hits double digits

Spooked by the high price of Halloween candy? There’s not much relief in sight. For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. Candy and gum prices are up an average of 13% this month compared to last October, more than double the 6% increase in all […]
6 months ago
File - A pile of characters removed from a sign on the Twitter headquarters building are seen in Sa...

Twitter takeover: 1 year later, X struggles with misinformation, advertising and usage decline

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One year ago, billionaire and new owner Elon Musk walked into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters with a white bathroom sink and a grin, fired its CEO and other top executives and began transforming the social media platform into what is now known as X. X looks and feels something like Twitter, […]
6 months ago
An alligator swims at the Everglades National Park, Fla., April 23, 2012. A group of Floridians pla...

Beer belly wrestling, ‘evading arrest’ obstacle course on tap for inaugural Florida Man Games

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — It ain’t the Olympics, but a group of Floridians plan to host competitions themed according to the collective antics of the beer-loving, gator-possessing, rap-sheet heavy, mullet-wearing social media phenomenon known as “Florida Man.” Organizers of the “Florida Man Games” describe the competition as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth.” […]
6 months ago
FILE - Desks fill a classroom in a high school in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Gaps betw...

Racial gaps in math have grown. A school tried closing theirs by teaching all kids the same classes

Hope Reed was seeing stark disparities a decade ago at her high school in the suburbs of Columbia, South Carolina. Nearly half the school’s students were white, but the freshman remedial math classes were made up of almost all students of color. Reed, then chair of the math department at Blythewood High School, intervened with […]
6 months ago

Midair collision between hang glider and paraglider in Utah kills 1, injures 2 others

DRAPER, Utah (AP) — A midair collision between a hang glider and paraglider in Utah killed the paraglider pilot, seriously injured his passenger and injured the pilot of the hang glider, police said Wednesday. The two aircraft collided and crashed around 5 p.m. Tuesday near Salt Lake County Flight Park, a popular spot for non-powered […]
6 months ago
FILE - Heavy traffic heads south on Interstate 93 over the Zakim Bridge, Sept. 1, 2023, in Boston. ...

Report: Young driver fatality rates have fallen sharply in the US, helped by education, technology

NEW YORK (AP) — Crash and fatality rates among drivers under 21 have fallen dramatically in the U.S. during the past 20 years, a new report says, while noting young drivers are still the riskiest group behind the wheel. Using data from 2002-2021, a non-profit group of state highway safety offices says in the report […]
6 months ago
Preschool students practice math using manipulatives at a public school in Boston in 2016. Experts ...

Math disabilities hold many students back. Schools often don’t screen for them

Laura Jackson became seriously concerned about her daughter and math when the girl was in third grade. While many of her classmates flew through multiplication tests, Jackson’s daughter relied on her fingers to count, had difficulty reading clocks and burst into tears when asked at home to practice math flashcards. At school, the 9-year-old had […]
6 months ago

The Israel-Hamas war has roiled US campuses. Students on each side say colleges aren’t doing enough

America’s colleges aspire to be places where ideas meet and common ground emerges. As the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war, they have become seats of anguish. Many Jewish students and their allies, some with family and friends in Israel, have demanded bold reckonings and strong condemnation after the attacks by Hamas militants, who […]
6 months ago