Lifestyle

A rooster walks in a park outside of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami, Wedn...

Wild chickens take over Miami while some embrace roosters as a cultural symbol

MIAMI (AP) — Flamingos, pelicans, herons and parrots are just a few of the wild birds that call Miami home, but it’s the roosters, hens and baby chicks that have come to rule the roost in recent years. Not only found in residential neighborhoods like Little Havana, Little Haiti and Wynwood, the fowl families are […]
1 year ago
FILE - A couple exchanges wedding bands at City Hall in Philadelphia, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt...

US children of divorce have reduced earnings, increased chances of teen births and jail, study says

U.S. children whose parents divorce when they are age 5 or younger have reduced earnings as adults and increased chances by young adulthood of teen pregnancy, incarceration and death, according to a study released this month. After a divorce, a household’s income typically is halved as a family splits into two households, and it struggles […]
1 year ago
Ned and Hercules are seen Thursday, May 15, 2025, at West Virginia International Yeager Airport, wh...

Meet Hercules and Ned, the border collies fending off wildlife at West Virginia’s busiest airport

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Hercules and Ned have quite the spacious office at West Virginia’s busiest airport. The border collies and their handler make daily patrols along the milelong airfield to ensure birds and other wildlife stay away from planes and keep passengers and crew safe. Hercules is also the chief ambassador, soaking in affection […]
1 year ago
In this screengrab taken from a video posted on Oliver Widger's Instagram account on Saturday, May ...

An Oregon man who quit his job to set sail with his cat arrives to cheering fans in Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media. Oliver […]
1 year ago
FILE - Freshly-made pennies sit in a bin at the U.S. Mint in Denver on Aug. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Dav...

See a penny, pick it up? In the future, probably not as often — and, some say, that matters

NEW YORK (AP) — Ask someone for their thoughts: Could it now cost you a nickel? If you want to call somebody stingy, would you say they’re a quarter-pincher? And if they spend money unwisely, are they now dime-wise but pound-foolish? OK, maybe those are some minor, small-stakes, dare we say penny-ante concerns in the […]
1 year ago
FILE - Bonnie, a seven-month-old dachshund, licks Alexandra Maxwell's face as they a protest agains...

DeSantis signs law limiting development in Florida’s state parks after plan drew broad backlash

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Thursday curtailing what kind of development can happen in Florida’s prized state parks — giving his approval to legislation that came in direct response to his administration’s push to build golf courses, pickleball courts and hotels on conservation lands. Unlike issues of […]
1 year ago
Omer Shem Tov, center, an Israeli hostage who survived over 500 days in Hamas captivity, celebrates...

Feted by school children, tossing out a first pitch: Former Israeli hostage grapples with celebrity

BOSTON (AP) — Three months after his release from Hamas captivity, Omer Shem Tov stood on the pitcher’s mound at a Boston Red Sox game. Surrounded by supporters, he tossed out the first pitch, then raised his arms in celebration. His name flashed on the stadium billboard. The moment was emblematic of the new-found — […]
1 year ago

Jury convicts New York-Paris flight stowaway who slipped past gate agents

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury on Thursday convicted a woman who sneaked onto a flight from New York to Paris without a boarding pass by slipping past security and airline gate agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport last year. The short trial of Svetlana Dali concluded with a guilty finding on a stowaway […]
1 year ago
Flowers and tall grass cover the lawn of Amanda Beltranmini Healen in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, May...

Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — No Mow May encourages homeowners to stash the lawn mower each spring and let flowers and grass grow for pollinators and water retention. And if your neighbor’s lawn already looks like a wildflower field most of the time, it could be more intentional than passersby might assume. The movement has expanded […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News building in Philadelphia is shown in a file photo f...

Fictional fiction: A newspaper’s summer book list recommends nonexistent books. Blame AI

NEW YORK (AP) — The recommended reading list contained some works of fiction. It also contained some works that were, in fact, actually fictional. The content distributor King Features says it has fired a writer who used artificial intelligence to produce a story on summer reading suggestions that contained books that didn’t exist. The list […]
1 year ago
FILE - People shop for shoes in a Nike store on Nov. 25, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhins...

Why are more shoppers struggling to repay ‘buy now, pay later’ loans?

NEW YORK (AP) — More Klarna customers are having trouble repaying their “buy now, pay later” loans, the short-term lender said this week. The disclosure corresponded with reports by lending platforms Bankrate and LendingTree, which cited an increasing share of all “buy now, pay later” users saying they had fallen behind on payments. The late […]
1 year ago
FILE - A member of the Army visits Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Mo...

What is Memorial Day and how has it evolved from its Civil War origins?

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that’s supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of travel and discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers. Iraq War veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr. said the […]
1 year ago
Chef Jose Andres attends City Harvest Presents The 2025 Gala: Carnaval at Cipriani 42nd Street on T...

‘Money does no good in a bank’: World Central Kitchen’s Jose Andres urges donors to give more

José Andrés remembers when he went to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake that the government estimates killed more than 300,000 people. “We began cooking in the streets, you know?” said the James Beard award-winning Spanish chef, whose group operates more than 40 restaurants around the world. “I’m feeding people after an earthquake so there […]
1 year ago
FILE - Handler Willy Santiago competes with Afghan Hound Zaida during breed group judging at the 14...

Westminster Kennel Club sets plans for its 150th dog show next year

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s still just 21 in dog years. But the Westminster Kennel Club is gearing up for its 150th annual dog show next year and announced plans Tuesday for the milestone event, expected to draw about 3,000 champion dogs. It’s slated to start Jan. 31 with agility and other canine sports, including […]
1 year ago
A Chicago Sun-Times newspaper front page shows "DA POPE!" at a grocery store in Mount Prospect, Ill...

There’s an American pope, and he’s just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be

WASHINGTON (AP) — By the middle of last week, it became clear that something odd was happening. It was about the time that the fake video started circulating about the woman purporting to recount the “situationship” she’d had with Robert Prevost, the new American pope, decades ago when he was just another guy from Chicago. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Travelers walk through Salt Lake City International Airport Friday, May 24, 2024, in Salt La...

Despite economic concerns, Americans are set on getting away for Memorial Day weekend

DALLAS (AP) — Whether it’s a road trip to a nearby lake or jumping on a plane to explore a big city, Americans are expected to get away in record numbers over the long Memorial Day weekend even as economic and technical worries rattle the U.S. travel industry. Over 45 million people — 1.4 million […]
1 year ago
Heather Donahue, the star of the The Blair Witch Project, pauses on a walk to watch a songbird,Tues...

Still finding trouble in the woods: ‘Blair Witch Project’ star at center of Maine road dispute

FREEDOM, Maine (AP) — Heather Donahue is walking through the woods once again. The star of the successful low-budget horror movie “The Blair Witch Project” has an on-screen history of getting into scary situations in a forest. But this time she is merely picking up an old soda can someone carelessly left on a trail. […]
1 year ago
Washington's top baby names...
Julia Dallas

Is your child’s name on the list? Washington’s top baby names released

Discover the latest baby names in Washington for 2024 from the Social Security Administration's new list.
1 year ago
Seattle-area weekend activities...
Paul Holden

Seattle-area weekend activities: Street fair season, Seattle Super Saunter, and more!

Discover Seattle-area weekend activities, from street fairs to the Seattle Super Saunter, perfect for summer fun and exploration.
1 year ago
This image provided by BCG shows a sketch by Bob Goodson that included a crude concept of what woul...

Here’s a story about the history of the Like button that you might like

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The internet wouldn’t be the same without the Like button, the thumbs-up icon that Facebook and other online services turned into digital catnip. Like it or not, the button has served as a creative catalyst, a dopamine delivery system and an emotional battering ram. It also became an international tourist attraction […]
1 year ago
In this screengrab taken from a video posted on Oliver Widger's Instagram account on Saturday, May ...

Sailing from Oregon to Hawaii after quitting his job turns a man with a cat into social media star

HONOLULU (AP) — Midway while sailing across the Pacific with just his cat named Phoenix, Oliver Widger reflected on why he thinks his many followers — more than a million on TikTok and Instagram — are drawn to his story of quitting his 9-to-5 job and embarking on a journey from Oregon to Hawaii. “The […]
1 year ago
FILE - Travelers walk along a concourse at Reagan National Airport on July 19, 2024, in Arlington, ...

US lost business travelers in April as economic anxiety and border detentions cooled demand

Business travel to the U.S. fell 9% in April as companies and workers grappled with economic uncertainty and anger over the Trump administration’s tariffs and border policies. The National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Thursday showing the number of airline and ship passengers who entered the country last month using business visas. The […]
1 year ago
FILE - White House executive chef Cris Comerford, holds dishes as she speaks during a media preview...

Former White House chef for 5 presidents says first families are ‘just regular people’ at home

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cristeta Comerford, a longtime White House executive chef who recently retired after nearly three decades of preparing meals for five presidents and their guests, says first families are “just regular people” when they’re at home in the private living areas of the executive mansion. “It’s not what you see on the news,” […]
1 year ago
People wait for a bus at a cool bus stop in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/A...

In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist. “Everyone is […]
2 years ago