Human Interest

DEAR HELOISE: My husband and I have three very young children, and we waited about eight years after we got married to start our family. Our kids are important to us, so we wanted to develop a bond with them while raising them.

DEAR ABBY: I am engaged to an amazing guy. We have been together a little more than two years. During our first year, his family was great to me. They acted as if they liked me. However, things have changed.

Atkinson officials have denied a permit for a new spa catering to adults who role-play as children wearing diapers, which was planned for the space above the three-car garage of a Pope Road residence.

DEAR ABBY: I have a close relationship with my grandchildren and their parents. My 12-year-old grandson eats nothing except fast food and refuses everything else. His parents allow it and even have food delivered for him. His 8-year-old sister watches closely and is starting to head in the s…

DEAR HELOISE: As I do every morning at breakfast, I read your column, and the first letter I saw was a suggestion from Barbara, in Houston, on how to loosen a stuck jar.

DEAR READERS: Do you know which cheese is the most popular cheese in the world? Is it:

DEAR ABBY: I’ve always been close to my children, but now that they are adults, it seems I’m losing my connection with one of them. He married a girl of a different race, and while that doesn’t bother me, I have a strong hunch she’s the reason he has distanced himself from not only me, but a…

Dear Heloise: Whether it is a spare ketchup bottle, a garlic powder spice container or a box of crackers, everyone usually has that “extra something” in their pantry waiting to be used and moved to the front of the kitchen cabinet.

Today's Sound Off is about poor lighting on our streets:

DEAR ABBY: Our wonderful daughter has her doctorate. She’s a hardworking professor, a job she loves. Her husband, “Phil,” has three master’s degrees and also his doctorate.

DEAR HELOISE: My wife poached eggs for breakfast the other day. After scraping as much of the egg skin that was willing to leave the stainless-steel pan, I filled it with soapy water to soak overnight.

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 41-year-old gay man. Although I was raised in a conservative, religious family, I’m out of the closet and proud to be living as myself.

DEAR ABBY: My husband looks at pornography. I find it disgusting and it turns me off. I feel that if he has to look at it, it means I’m not good enough or sexy enough for him. I don’t believe his excuse of “It has nothing to do with you.” When I try to tell him how it makes me feel, he becom…

DEAR HELOISE: All I hear from my friends is how expensive things have gotten. Yes, but there are bargains and people who freelance their work. You can ask who your friends use for repairs, plumbing, electrical work, house cleaning, yard work and so on. If people you know trust and like them,…

DEAR ABBY: I love my fiance, but his mother says, “Over my dead body will he move away from me.” She has cancer and we have both been praying that she goes peacefully, but it seems all she wants to do is create as much strife as possible between my fiance and me. I am now ignoring calls and …

Officials in Atkinson have scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday — Valentine’s Day — for an application from the owner of a new spa catering to adults who role-play as children wearing diapers.

WASHINGTON — Calls made with AI-generated voices are illegal, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday, after a fake robocall imitating President Joe Biden sought to dissuade people from voting for him in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary election.

DEAR HELOISE: It is customary, particularly in small communities, to take food to a family who recently had a loved one pass away. I have another suggestion to add onto this:

DEAR ABBY: I have been in a relationship for more than a year. We met at the gym. We have similar interests and are both normally caring and loving to each other. We also have similar senses of humor.

DEAR ABBY: I have been involved with a married man for the last five years. He lied to me about his status. He told me that a woman he’d had a 15-year relationship with had left him. I recently learned he has been with her for more than 30 years, and she’s the mother of his kids. I have trie…

DEAR HELOISE: I keep hearing that there is a global food shortage affecting over 238 million people around the world. What is causing this, and is there anything we can do to help people who are experiencing food shortages?

A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board pushed college sports a bit further from amateurism Monday when she ruled the Dartmouth men’s basketball team can hold a union election — which would mean the athletes are employees of their school.

DEAR HELOISE: I thought you should know that I just bought a new range with a convection oven (an LG), and the manual specifically cautions not to put foil in the bottom for spills, as it will interfere with the heating and damage the surface. Thank you for all your great advice!

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for three years, together for eight. We have two kids together. Over the last year, he has changed a lot and has treated me very badly. He’s always frustrated with me, accusing me of not caring about him and things of that nature. He puts me down…

By the time veteran mail carrier Jim Palinkas met artist Miles McAlpin, Palinkas was already well known in the post office and on his route by his alter ego — the colorful Bronx-born “Macho Mailman.”

DEAR ABBY: I am a mature, divorced woman living with my boyfriend for the past two years. We have a good life in general. We live in a nice home in a great community. My problem is, he isn’t capable of showing as much affection as I need. He grew up in a family in which affection was not dem…

Today’s Sound Off concerns cosmetics and all of their empty promises: