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LIFESTYLE: Fictional mothers can teach us a lot
Whether a good mother or bad, there’s something from just about any fictional mother we can learn; one of the best forms of inspiration, after all, is to make a mistake.
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ENViRONMENT: More Americans feel guilty for not living greener
More people (primarily women) are feeling guiltier this year than they were last about their not-so-carbon-neutral habits.
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HEALTH: New dads twice as likely to become depressed
Fathers of 9-month-olds are about twice as likely as other men their age to show symptoms of major depression, which also can hurt their children: Depressed fathers read less to their kids, and the children know slightly fewer words by age 2, a study suggested Tuesday.
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HEALTH: Action is louder than weight
Exercise can shrink your waistline and reduce the belly fat shown in recent studies to be so toxic, even if you don’t lose much weight.
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LIFESTYLE: Coupon clippers seek savings
Coupon use, on the decline since 1992, appears to be on the way up as shoppers look for ways to combat rising prices.
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LIFESTYLE: Pop culture pulls in big bucks
Entertainment and sports heroes only had a so-so year in 2007 if you look at traditional yardsticks such as sales of tickets and discs.
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LIFESTYLE: 'Green' bandwagon running on empty
Americans are aware of global warming, ”but they don’t get the urgency of it and that this is solvable."
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BUSINESS: Franchise owners pay the price for success
Whether it’s selling steak sandwiches, doughnuts or car parts, joining a franchise gives small business owners the chance to run with the “big boys” of business. National marketing strategies, schooling and support are standard services provided in return for thousands paid by franchisees.
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FINANCE: Early strategies can lower college students’ debt
With college costs rising faster than most family incomes, some students have no choice but to borrow. About two-thirds of students leave college with student loans, with an average balance of $19,237.
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LIFESTYLE: Jivin' at the drive-in
As the drive-in theater readies for its 75th anniversary this summer, a group of local enthusiasts is banding together to make sure the seasonal icon is around for decades more.
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AUTOS: Low-speed car gathers buzz
Chris Cole’s ride to work is fueled by electrons, not gasoline.
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TECHNOLOGY: Internet gives students a 'Second Life'
Second Life is the newest technological frontier, and over the next year, students at Niagara County Community College will be able to take classes there.
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RELIGION: Benedict gets high marks from non-Catholics despite hard-line theology
When Pope Benedict XVI is greeted in Washington, D.C., and New York next week as not only the leader of the Roman Catholic Church but also a living embodiment of Christian history, many Christian leaders from non-Catholic traditions will be OK with it.
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LIFESTYLE: Voters elect to stay engaged
There is no escaping the 2008 presidential election, not just for the candidates but for the rest of us, too.
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LIFESTYLE: Tuesday the best day to work
Fat Tuesday is for gorging.
Super Tuesday is for voting.
But most Tuesdays are for working — working hard, that is.
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LIFESTYLE: Hotels guests play action games on Wii, Xbox
Check into a hotel and be a guitar hero, boxing champ or tennis ace. Wii not?
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EVENTS: Polish pride evident on Dyngus Day
What started as a choral group fundraiser some 45 years ago may soon blossom into a primary tourism draw for Western New York.
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HEALTH: Employers ask sick workers to stay home
You’ve probably sat next to a co-worker with a cold who is sneezing and coughing away.
So, with flu season in full swing, here’s a tip to give them.
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FITNESS: Food fight
Kids are not to blame. Yes, there’s a national crisis of childhood obesity, but children are not responsible for fast food restaurants on every corner, or the hypnotic images that tease from electronic screens, or even the fact that they don’t want to play outside anymore.
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EDUCATION: Striving to excel
Technology instruction in grade school in the 21st century has made the days of learning woodworking and how to construct brides largely obsolete. Substituted are digital photography, publishing software and advanced Internet research work meant to give students the skills they’ll need in college and or the work world.
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LIFESTYLE: Local leap year babies get set to celebrate
According to Infoplease.com, chances are 1-in-1,500 that someone is born on leap day. It therefore was a huge surprise the first time Karen Champoux walked into her high school homeroom at Niagara Falls High School, because two other classmates shared her unique birthday.
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LIFESTYLE: There are ways to tackle problems with picky eaters
The ramifications of being a picky eater may go deeper than just having rigid food preferences.
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EATING: Making mouths happy
Chocolate-covered bacon may be hard to imagine, but some guy on the Internet — figuring everything tastes better with bacon — took a strip and covered it with the sweet stuff.
The jury is still out on the idea, but it’s certainly something to give a chocolate lover pause.
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MOMMY & ME: How to make a diaper cake
A great way to dress up your diaper shower is to present them in the form of a diaper cake. As one of the “uncraftiest” people you’ll ever meet/encounter in a newspaper column, I can ensure you that these are really easy to make.
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SUPER BOWL: Commercials have 'ad'ded value
“This is really the Academy Awards for TV ads,” Jack Martin with the Lockport-based advertising firm J. Fitzgerald Group said in an e-mail.
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TV: Catch up on "Lost"
There’s not a lot that most of us can do to fix the drama behind the drama, but we can get the most out of what we’ve been given. And that means being caught up on what’s happened to the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815.
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MOMMY & ME: UB seeks participants in pregnancy study
The University at Buffalo is conducting a research study on the effects of a low dose of aspirin on women who have had a pregnancy loss or miscarriage.
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YOUR MONEY: Anything is insurable if the price is right
Insurance policies, even if not through traditional brokers, can be had for everything from vacations to rock concerts and even alien abductions.
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MOMMY & ME: Know your childbirth options
Most of my friends and family assume that, since I had a C-section when Cameran was born, I already have a repeat Cesarean scheduled for Little Wahler No. 2’s impending birth. Am I crazy for thinking that takes the fun out of the whole experience?
