Life Style & Travel

UNITED STATES—Lawns composed of turf grasses are the most functional, but also the most demanding forms of groundcover. That is old news. There are so many other less demanding low growing plants that that can cover the ground in areas that are not used like lawns are. Sometimes they work nicely just to control weeds. Sometimes they help to...

VENTURA—Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) is an organization that fights for deaf kids to be kindergarten ready. The group recently passed a bill for special education language development. The bill (SB 210) would require state programs to provide testing for deaf and hard of hearing for children 0-5 years old (SB 210). Public relations director, Julie Rems-Smario, was interviewed...

UNITED STATES—The house on 1514 Manhattan Place was emptying out, prelude to its new career as a sober living facility. As part of the Wylie team, we already had the wife of the handyman Lorenzo staying in the long windowless room that opened onto the cathedral ceilinged living room. After the meek postman, the next tenant out was the relative...

UNITED STATES—There is no way around it. Just about every garden has some degree of shade. Even low profile single story houses without eaves or fences are shaded on the north side. Eastern exposures get the cooler morning sun. Western exposures get only the warmer afternoon sun. There are vacant and treeless parcels out in the desert that lack...

ROSEVILLE—According to their website, lead-k.org, LEAD-K, Language Equality and Acquisition For Deaf Kids is a civil rights movement in direct response to the growing epidemic of language deprived Deaf children who have been denied ASL skills, which has an irreparable impact on their education and developmental years. Most Deaf children denied ASL are not Kindergarten-ready by the time they are at...

UNITED STATES—Pasta. It’s a food that has been getting a bad rap for years for its high carbohydrate content. Many people associate pasta with carbs, which are deemed deleterious. But this is simply a misconception. The truth is, carbs are essential for the body. I spent years demonizing carbs. I shunned most carbs from my diet thinking it would solve all...

UNITED STATES—In Danny’s coffee shop Uncle John looked at me levelly and said, “Someday you are going to hit it big.” He said it so jauntily, so casually—like a fact of nature. My uncle secretly implied that it may not happen right now. But it will happen. That’s a nice thing to put in your pocket and travel with. I...

UNITED STATES—Turf grasses are the ultimate in groundcover. They are very durable, and useful for covering large areas in a very user friendly manner. The toughest varieties are used for athletic fields because they withstand the wear and tear. In home gardens, all sorts of varieties are grown as lawns. Like other groundcovers, lawns limit erosion, and are cleaner...

UNITED STATES—I don’t usually declare a car of the month, mainly because it would require too much research and digging into sales stats. However, March did feature my first sighting of the new Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. Yes, Quadrifoglio. That’s Italian speak for “four leaf clover." Now, I can’t guarantee that my sighting occurred on St. Patrick’s Day, but...

ROCKLIN—American Sign Language (ASL) will celebrate its 200th anniversary since being established at the first American school for the deaf in 1817. A community eager to promote this history is the ASL program at William Jessup University (WJU). They are holding the event, “ASL Day For All” on Saturday, April 8 to bring the Deaf and hearing people of northern...