Online Features
Kitchen, Bed & Bath
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A small investment returns a safer and healthier home
(BPT) - Warm weather is here, which means many homeowners are beginning new DIY projects. Have you included home safety on your list? Almost every home in the U.S. has a smoke alarm, but most do not have enough. Fire experts recommend installing alarms on every floor and inside and outside of every sleeping area. A rec...
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Upcycling: Breathe new life into decor with a dash of DIY inspiration
(BPT) - If you’ve ever looked around your house and gotten the urge to purge, you might consider pausing and first thinking about how you could transform that old, damaged piece of furniture or outdated light fixture into a fresh-faced showpiece for your home. Not only are you doing something good for the environment -...
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Fast and fabulous fixes to banish a boring bath
(BPT) - The best bathrooms are more than just functional areas – they’re sanctuaries where you can escape, reset and recharge. And as one of the smallest and most-used rooms in the home, that’s likely why they’ve become the most popular remodeling project (78 percent), according to the National Association of Home Build...
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Couples who design together, stay together
(BPT) - Opposites attract, and for couples who live together, compromising on personal style and design choices can be a difficult bridge to cross. Someone who wants a modern, contemporary vibe might not like the decor choice of someone who prefers a more traditional or rustic feel. What most people don’t realize, howev...
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Practice water conservation at home
(BPT) - Home is the place a person can always escape for some rest and relaxation. This year, upgrade your home to be a place that also helps you conserve water and be a better environmental steward. Technology has come a long way in improving performance and efficiency in household fixtures, especially when it comes t...
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Take control and mitigate mold growth in your home
(BPT) - Damp, dark areas of the home, such as an unfinished basement, can often be trouble spots for homeowners hoping to increase their living space. Left unfinished, these areas of the home can potentially suffer significant damage, be prone to flooding or develop mold. When it comes to home improvement, homeowners ar...
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Simple tips to save water, money and the environment
(BPT) - There are a number of ways to save water and they all start with you.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American uses about 50 gallons of water per day at home. That means a family of four uses approximately 6,000 gallons a month. The following tips can help you save water, mon...
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Tips for optimizing small spaces
(BPT) - The trend toward smaller, more efficient homes is still in full swing, with new home builders offering floor plans that lower square footage while amping up usability. If your home is older, however, or you live in an apartment, your smaller space may just feel ... well, small. Being short on space doesn’t mean...
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Creating the perfect sleep environment this spring
(BPT) - Everyone, including moms and doctors, can agree that a good night of sleep is necessary for good health, high energy, and an individual’s overall well-being. Not getting enough good sleep – or rapid eye movement sleep – can affect the mind and body’s ability to react appropriately to outside factors, the Nationa...
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Three tips to save time spring cleaning
(BPT) - It’s that time of year - throw the windows open and refresh your house with a good, deep clean. Americans spend nearly 70 hours cleaning their homes each year, according to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Get your time back with three easy tips to make the process fast and stress-free. ...
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High-design, high-tech ideas for making your home more luxurious
(BPT) - With so many demands on our time these days, it’s easy to relegate adding luxurious elements to the home as something better suited for another day. Yet, with concerted effort and a few purposefully chosen items, it is easier than ever to create a home environment that pampers you each and every day. To create y...
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Bathroom upgrades that boost livability for anyone aging in place
(BPT) - Staying safely in their own home as they grow older is a major concern for many Americans. In a 2012 survey by AARP, 70 percent of surveyed members said they were “extremely or very concerned about aging in place.” Even if you maintain an active lifestyle and good health, growing older often requires you to mana...
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national news
Lawyer Cliff Sloan faces tough assignment: Closing Guantanamo

The interior of an unoccupied communal cellblock is seen at Camp VI, a prison used to house detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo BayBy Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cliff Sloan has represented Jon Bon Jovi's band in legal matters and argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, he has perhaps his toughest assignment: Helping to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Washington attorney was named on Monday as the State Department's Guantanamo Bay envoy, a central player in President Barack Obama's renewed push to make good on a 2008 campaign promise to shut the installation where the United States holds terrorism suspects. ...


2013-06-17 20:09:29 -0500
Airlines' performance improves, lags other industries: U.S. poll

A passenger plane approaches to land as other aircraft taxi to the runway at the San Diego International Airport in San Diego, CaliforniaBy Chris Michaud (Reuters) - U.S. consumers are more satisfied with airlines in recent years but the industry still gets relatively low marks, mainly due to the onboard experience, according to a new customer poll released on Tuesday. The American Consumer Satisfaction Index, which surveys some 70,000 U.S. customers annually on more than 40 industries ranging from apparel and hospitals to banks and insurance, found only television and internet service providers ranked lower. ...


2013-06-18 00:16:15 -0500
Lawyers probe jurors for hidden agendas in Trayvon Martin murder case

Trayvon Martin's parents Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin on the fifth day of jury selection at Seminole circuit court in SanfordBy Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A white man with a chest-length gray beard wrote in a questionnaire for prospective jurors that he could keep an open mind about George Zimmerman's guilt or innocence but he failed to mention the $20 donation he made to the murder defendant's legal fund. The donation came to light in open court Monday under questioning by state prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda. "Don't you have a stake in this already?" Rionda asked the man. ...


2013-06-18 00:18:00 -0500
Snowden: U.S. ‘not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me’
Edward Snowden, America's most-wanted whistle-blower, says the truth about the government spying program he revealed will eventually come out, regardless of what happens to him. "All I can say right now is the US Government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me," Snowden wrote in a live [...]
2013-06-17 09:42:20 -0500