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5 fabulous Halloween costumes for your dog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

The countdown to Halloween has begun. And with it comes a very important question: What should my dog’s costume be? Soon enough, stores will start running out of the best Halloween costumes, leaving many to take to online shopping or even a DIY approach.So if you plan on dressing your fur baby up for Halloween, you’d better get started now.Here are five great Halloween dog costumes, ranging from the heroic to the adorable:GhostbustersIf you’re worried about ghosts nabbing you on Halloween, let your four legged pal be your hero, After all, if you have a ghost encounter, who you gonna call? Available for $24.99 at PetSmart.Sully from ‘Monsters Inc.’Sure, Sully took his job way too seriously and tormented children, but by the end of the movie he turned into a big softie. The Sully fleece is perfect for your little monster. Available for $24.99 at PetSmart.Minnie MouseThis Minnie Mouse costume is also available for cats (good luck with that). If your dog doesn’t like the full dress, you...

Some drugs shouldn’t be used long-term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

Dear Dr. John,My old German Shepherd is getting close to the end of his life. Our veterinarian has done a great job of keeping him going as his hind legs have continued to weaken over the last two years. We have put him on Rimadyl twice a day and we have used slings to get him up and laid down mats to help him get a grip on various floor surfaces.He has also had occasional loose bowels for which we have given him metronidazole from time to time. It works very well. Is there any reason why we can’t keep him on it to prevent the loose bowels? Lately, he has had a few bouts of a little blood on his stool. Our vet he suggested the same medication which I had leftover and it worked. What could now be causing the bleeding, and should we have it checked out? W.W.Dear W.W.,It’s reassuring to know that your dog has continued to do reasonably well. The NSAID that you have been giving him, Rimadyl, is relatively safe to use long term with regular assessments of liver function by way of blood t...

Outgoing Izabella is a nature lover

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

Izzy is an inquisitive, outgoing, and outspoken girl in search of her forever family. She loves to explore the outdoors and nature, which include various community activities, gardening, and collecting small insects for her “bug sanctuary.” She always willing to try new things and new foods. Izzy also enjoys arts and crafts and going to the library. Her biggest strength is her ability to advocate and speak up for herself.Izzy attends a local public school and receives support through an IEP. She participates in many extracurricular activities which include gymnastics, cheerleading, and the Girl Scouts. Izzy is currently placed in a residential program and has made positive connections with peers in and outside of school.Izzy would thrive with a caring and committed family of any constellation with a female parental figure with or without other children in the home. Interested families need to have experience in trauma informed care and therapeutic parenting. Interested f...

TV Q&A: Will ‘Will Trent’ return for another season?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

You have questions. I have some answers.Q: I really liked “Will Trent.” Will they be making more?A: Yes. A second season has been ordered of the fine drama starring Ramon Rodriguez and inspired by the books by Karin Slaughter. With the actors’ strike ongoing at this point, a return date for the series is not set. And even if the strike is settled soon, this and other shows may not be ready for telecast until 2024.Q: We enjoyed watching the movie “Salt” again recently and have always wondered what happened after she escaped. Was a “Salt 2” ever proposed?A: The 2010 spy thriller with Angelina Jolie was a box-office hit which many saw as the setup for a whole series of “Salt” movies.Deadline.com reported in 2011 that Sony Pictures “is moving forward” with a sequel, and that Jolie wanted to do one “if it comes together right.” There were reports about the hiring of a director and a screenwriter, but — according to many reports — Jolie was not happy with the script and decided to p...

Is pregnancy cause of problem with his ex?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

Q. My husband’s two kids go back and forth between their mother and our homes. At first she was very cooperative. We were even sort of friends, but for some reason she has recently become short tempered, horrible actually, and I hesitate to compare notes like I should. I’m eight months pregnant and I don’t need the stress. What’s good ex-etiquette?A. Hmmm … hopefully you will once again trust me to read between the lines, but this is what I suspect is happening — and one of those psychological sticky points that few want to openly admit. That fact that you are having a child soon has changed the pecking order. You are now officially peers.Many former partners have confided that no matter what went on between the exes, the one thing they had that set them apart from their ex’s current partner was that she was the mother of his children. You being pregnant, she no longer holds that exclusive title and within that context she may be having trouble adjusting. You have to look at the his...

Editorial: Caring for mental health essential in challenging times

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

These are difficult, often frightening, times.Nobody knows better than we who cover the news that it’s difficult to be confronted with the worst of humanity day in and day out. There are awful people doing awful things on a daily basis, and it can take a tremendous toll to absorb that ugliness and violence and harm.That’s why we’d urge everyone to take a break, even if only for 15 minutes. Turn off your phone. Sit in the sunshine. Be quiet and calm. Recharge. Try to find a moment of peace.The events in Israel are the latest reminder that the forces of evil are determined and unrelenting, but also that the scenes of horror are never far from reach in our interconnected world.Reports of indiscriminate rocket attacks and the deliberate targeting of civilians by Hamas forces, followed by the swift and violent Israeli response, were available instantaneously via social media platforms — terror beamed directly into the palm of your hand.There’s a term for endlessly reading bad news on soc...

A visit to Burlington, VT’s Blind Tiger steeped in style and ambiance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

It’s so easy to love Burlington, Vermont.There’s the downtown with its cobblestoned Church Street area dotted with cool shops, great eats and most days, free live entertainment.There’s the college scene: UVM is perched above downtown, with lovely buildings, grounds and people that add to the cool vibe of the city.There’s Lake Champlain in its glory, reflecting the sepia-toned mountains behind it.And there are great, great places to stay right in that downtown area (Hotel Vermont is a personal favorite; the Hilton on the waterfront is a nice spot with a lovely view).I visit whenever I can. But there’s one part of Burlington I’ve long been drawn to: Burlington Heights, as locals call it, a tree-lined neighborhood that sits way uphill looking down on the lakeside city.Lined with breathtakingly beautiful Victorian homes (and right up against the edge of the UVM campus), I’ve long wished for a friend to invite me to pop in for a stay.My wish was answered.The “friend” who invited me was t...

Oliver Dench checks into new season of ‘Hotel Portofino’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

A lush Mediterranean melodrama set against Fascist Italy’s tumultuous 1920s, “Hotel Portofino” introduces American audiences to Oliver Dench.As Season 2 begins Sunday night on PBS, Dench’s Lucian Ainsworth is struggling in a doomed marriage, completely alienated from his father and extremely close to his mother, the beautiful Bella (the series’ top-billed star Natascha McElhone) who runs the luxury Italian Riviera resort hotel of the title.“It is absolutely a troubled marriage. It’s tragic,” Dench, 30, began in a Zoom interview from his London flat. “because there’s not really any wrongdoing in either party.“They’re just two people who shouldn’t be married, who clearly aren’t in love with each other. The first time we see them in Series 2, they’re trying their best to rub along in some small way.“But they are two characters who suffered from different mental health ailments, so it’s nigh on impossible and just breaks my little heart to imagine peo...

Dear Abby: Dreading the holiday newsletter bragfest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

Dear Abby: Is there any way to end the “holiday newsletter”? Every Christmas, I get one from a particular family member, which invariably includes a list of their glowing accomplishments, expensive trips, etc., accompanied by lots of photos. Nobody else in our family sends these kinds of letters, and I don’t know how they feel about receiving it. Last December, I couldn’t even read it because it made me so depressed.My siblings and I are all in our 60s and 70s and spread out across the U.S. We have diverse lifestyles, incomes, etc. Most of us can’t afford the kind of vacations this sibling writes about. Many of us also have personal, painful things going on in our lives, which we don’t really want to discuss.Is it better to just not read the newsletter? I don’t believe this sibling means to be insensitive, and I don’t think I could ever bring the subject up for discussion. I just know I’m already dreading December’s letter....

Pedestrian killed after struck by vehicle on I-5: CHP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle on the northbound Interstate 5 near Old Town Saturday night, according to California Highway Patrol.The collision was reported to authorities just before 8:30 p.m. According to CHP logs, the pedestrian was walking on the freeway in the No. 1 lane in between the Old Town Avenue exit and the Moore Street on-ramp when they were struck by the vehicle.The pedestrian was declared dead at the scene. Their identity has not been disclosed by authorities.The two right lanes were blocked as a result of the collision, Caltrans said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Traffic was slowed through the area, although no SigAlert was issued.No additional details about the collision were immediately available.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.