Christmas trees are one of the recognized traditions of the holiday season. They make our homes smell lovely, we can decorate them and they provide a beautiful focal point for gifts.
: I recently moved into a new house and would like to get the locks changed, as I don’t know how many people have keys to my home. Anyway, rather than pay a locksmith, I saw a do-it-yourself kit that I would like to try. Are these kits any good?
As with the beginning of any new year, or any time frame for that matter, we usually have lists of things we want to accomplish in that new time — in our lives, our work or in our homes. Given the less-than-favorable economic situation we are currently experiencing, those new ideas and starts may be smaller or not occur at all.
: I planted a row of red tip photinia between a walkway and the side of my garage to try to grow a formal hedge to break up the mass of the garage wall. In front of the photinia I have a row of lantana that I prune low to the ground. Some of the photinia, especially the ones that get the most afternoon sun, have leaves that appear to be burnt during the summer. They are a brownish or blackish color. The plant is not dead as there are new leaves growing on it, even on the same stems that have the burnt leaves. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do? Does it need more or less water?
When you come home and take a nice deep breath to relax, are you getting more than you bargained for? It may come as a surprise to learn that according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the air in our homes is often two to five times more polluted than the outdoor air — even in the largest and most industrialized cities.
DEAR HELOISE: We realize that remembering your frequently used Web sites, log-on names and passwords can be a difficult task. If you must write them down, please put the information in a locked drawer or box so that no one else can access the information. You also can put this information in a password-controlled file on your computer.
A fan has always been a fan no matter its color, its size or if it hangs from a ceiling or sits on a table. When you switch it on, it blows and circulates air.
It’s coming later than usual, but Las Vegas’ first big boxing event of the year is set for May 2 between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton.
Four Bishop Gorman senior football players excelled in recent postseason all-star games.
• ARBOR VIEW — Girls basketball player Candice McFarland totaled 50 points in five games at the Sierra Vista Invitational, leading the Aggies to two victories. Boys basketball player Darington Banks averaged 20 points and four assists at the Sierra Vista Invitational.
Anglers who enjoy fishing the upper reaches of Lake Mohave will be happy to learn the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery will resume its rainbow trout-stocking program on Jan. 16. The first plant will be made at Willow Beach, with second and third plants scheduled for Davis Camp and Riverside below Davis Dam. Those plants will occur the following week.
It will be business as usual for local horseplayers today as the television signal at racetracks in California and Florida will remain on for the next two-plus weeks.
It’s tough not to be impressed with all the numbers piled up by Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, who has made shredding defenses look easy this season.
Effortlessly knocking down long jumper after long jumper, Eldorado’s Mitrell Clark makes it look as if the skill comes naturally to him.
The UNLV women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a barrage of first-half 3-pointers from New Mexico, losing to the Lobos 75-49 Wednesday in Albuquerque, N.M., in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams.
Coronado’s girls basketball team isn’t blessed with an abundance of height.
• LAKE MEAD — Despite Friday’s trout plants, fishing was slow at Hemenway Fishing Point, Boulder Harbor and Crawdad Cove. Two stripers weighing close to 20 pounds each reportedly were caught on trolled hardware earlier in the week. One angler said he caught small stripers in Boulder Harbor after switching from hardware to cut bait. There is talk that striper fishing is better in the morning after the plants. Fishing seems to be a little better in the Overton Arm, where a Wyoming snowbird caught 25 stripers Monday while trolling with hardware and casting sardines. Fishing is slow in the Temple Bar area.
“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”
Attention to detail is one of UNLV coach Lon Kruger’s strengths. During practices, rarely does a minute go by without Kruger stepping in to make a teaching point.
The former manager of Child Haven said he was fired last week because county auditors found lapses in the oversight and accounting of donations from two charities that support the county’s emergency children’s shelter.
The controversy surrounding the closing of F Street under Interstate 15 could have been avoided had it been clear during planning that the closure was permanent, a former city councilman said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Dean Heller on Wednesday was named to the House Ways and Means Committee for the new Congress, landing a seat on the powerful panel that forms taxes, trade and Social Security legislation.
CARSON CITY — A Las Vegas-based conservative think tank called Wednesday for state government to consider eliminating the Department of Business and Industry and make numerous other changes that it thinks would eliminate the need for tax increases by this year’s Legislature.
A legislative expert and a financial expert became the newest university regents Wednesday.
The girlfriend of a man charged with shooting three Las Vegas SWAT officers was given custody Wednesday of her three children, who were taken into protective custody after the incident.