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Features

How to handle in-laws hurling insults

Dear Annie: I have been married for 12 years to a good man whom I love very much, but I dread nearly every holiday, birthday dinner and casual Sunday visit with his family. On the surface, my in-laws are charming, polished and the sort of people everyone else describes as "so nice." But behind ...

Reading the newspaper online

Dear Heloise: This is in response to the several recent complaints about the obsolescence of printed newspapers. I have been a lifelong daily news- paper reader. But after retiring, and with the increased costs and delivery problems, I finally said, “Enough!” I tried reading it online on my ...

The day an irregular compass changed everything

The following story has been compiled from Marquette Regional History Center articles. Following the Revolutionary War, the U.S. General Land Office was formed in 1812 to survey public lands. The newly created U.S. government, which needed funds, wanted to distribute the land to war veterans ...

Still doing it alone after decades of marriage

Dear Annie: I have been married for 45 years, and the silence in my marriage feels deafening. It did not happen overnight. It built slowly over the years, like a snowball rolling downhill, growing larger and heavier until it now seems to fill every corner of our home. I always believed I was ...

Signs of spring

“Come on Pearl, come on Kitty, if you feel inclined, down around the bend in the water, bring your fishin' line,” – Gordon Lightfoot In the evenings now, if I travel along the county road, the deer are gathering in any place where there’s bare ground. The surrounding landscape remains ...

Keep mice away with lavender

Dear Heloise: Using a sealed bin helps to keep mice out, but it doesn’t always work. The smell of birdseed can get through plastic, and mice are persistent. What finally did the trick for me was putting a lavender room freshener inside the bin, tucked in a corner away from the seed bag. ...