CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — For some evangelical Christians, faith is about having a personal relationship with Jesus. At $1.99 per minute, the tech company Just Like Me is taking that concept to a new level. Users of the platform can join video calls with an avatar of Jesus generated by artificial intelligence. Like other religious […]
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — On a recent weekend afternoon, at a Chinese comedy show in northern Virginia, the host asked the audience, “What food do you like?” The loudest answer echoed through the hall: “Chick-fil-A!” “You still haven’t gotten your H-1B lottery, ha?” quipped the host, citing the most popular work visa among Chinese students. […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sam Mintesnot had checked off everything she possibly could have from a long list of to-dos in preparation for the Coachella music festival. She crafted the best outfits, got her hair and nails done, booked a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and flew out on Tuesday with a spreadsheet full of […]
A new reality is setting in for travelers worldwide: rising fees, fewer flight options and difficult decisions about whether a trip is worth the cost. The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices, which have spiked sharply since the war in the Middle East began and fighting near the narrow Strait of Hormuz created […]
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — In the cramped backroom of a theater, Vicki Taylor glues together tiny figurines that peer over electrical boxes, canoe down drainage pipes and hide in nooks and crannies waiting to be found by someone curious enough to get on their hands and knees to search. Taylor and her husband, Rick, opened […]
When it comes to Route 66, it’s not about getting somewhere fast — it’s about the journey. One of the most iconic highways in the world, the Mother Road is turning 100 this year. Despite losing its status decades ago as one of the nation’s main arteries, people from around the world still flock to […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — If you’ve ever planned to motor west and take the highway that’s the best, this might be time: Route 66 turns 100 this year. The Mother Road, as author John Steinbeck dubbed it, has evolved over the years from an escape for poor farmers fleeing the devastating dust storms of the […]
On July 8, 1989, a young music fan named Aadam Jacobs, with a compact Sony cassette recorder in his pocket, went to see an up-and-coming rock band from Washington for their debut show in Chicago. After a blast of guitar feedback, 20-year-old Kurt Cobain politely announced to the crowd at the small club called Dreamerz: […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — There are faster ways to get from Chicago to Los Angeles, but none have the allure or cultural cachet of Route 66. To John Steinbeck, it was the Mother Road that led poor farmers from Native Americans along the route, it was an economic boon that also left scars. To Black […]
The 73-year-old community-owned grocery store, PCC Community Markets, has announced it will open a new store in Seattle's Madison Valley neighborhood this fall.
They weren’t the most impressive-looking houses: boxy and small, two bedrooms with a living room and kitchen, no basement, tossed up one after another in assembly-line fashion. For certain families in the years after WWII, though, they were perfect — a chance to have a home of one’s own, an answer to a serious housing […]
Market performance tends to dominate the conversation about risks to a retirement plan. But spending shocks can also curb a retirement portfolio’s longevity. In Morningstar’s research, we examined the implications of two major types of spending shocks: unanticipated early retirement and uninsured long-term care expenses at the end of life. The former may necessitate spending […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Across the U.S., the number of tailors, dressmakers and custom sewing specialists is declining, even as demand for their work is growing. Industry experts say younger shoppers are turning to these professionals to tailor ready-made clothing, refresh thrifted pieces and get more longevity out of their wardrobes. Kil Bae, a longtime […]
DALLAS (AP) — Women suffering through the hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems that can come with menopause — all while looking in the mirror and noticing signs of aging — are being bombarded with products. More open conversations about menopause and the period leading up to it — called perimenopause — […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in. The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that’s plaid on one side […]
UFOs, or the notion of them, have been around a long time. Here’s a look at how the various iterations of the subject — from government investigations to sightings to movies and TV — have unfolded since World War II: ___ 1947: First widely reported UFO sighting in US On June 24, private pilot Kenneth […]
Before zombies shambled about, ghoulishly feasting on the flesh of those too slow to flee, aliens from outer space ruled movie theaters, drive-ins and late Saturday night creature features on television. Even as Hollywood still drives how Americans envision little green men with big eyes and bigger heads, fiction soon could be separated from — […]
For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us? It’s a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling. “If I were looking at Earth from a distance, I would […]
