Lifestyle

While teen pregnancies are down overall in the United States, hitting record lows since the early 1990s, some areas of the country are experiencing higher teen birth rates than state and national averages. But concerned citizens from schools, teen pregnancy centers, and government agencies are putting their heads together to figure out how to curb the trend -- and support the young women who have already given birth. In Ector County, Texas, where the city of Odessa is the county seat, there are 87.41 teen births per 1,000 -- a number that outpaces those for the state by two-to-one, and for the country by about three-to-one. Officials from school programs and the health department met on Friday, Jan. 9 to discuss potential solutions to the growing problem. The gathering, held in the Mesa ...

Interior decorating is a field in which both professional designers and homeowners can let their imaginations take flight. By taking cues from classic architecture, couture, art, and more, it is possible to incorporate one's personal style into everything from the furniture to bay window treatments. Recently, however, designers have noticed decorating trends focusing on one thing in particular: feathers. Feathers are known for their natural beauty and wide variety, making them a quirky but appealing home decorating choice. The trend began appearing in fashion and home design in the fall, but is now shaping a number of spring collections as well. “In recent years, we've seen a big resurgence of nature influencing design, feathers definitely being part of it,” Christina McCombs, an interio...

Watch out, California commuters: Google has received approval to test its "fully functional" self-driving car prototype on Bay Area public roads at the start of 2015. The tiny two-seat vehicle resembles a Smart Car and follows routes according to Google Maps, mainly in suburban office parks and downtown streets. Yet experts are divided on whether or not this innovation will be a good thing in the long run. Ratna Amin, director of transportation policy at San Francisco-based urban advocacy group SPUR, predicts that the cars could mean good things for consumers and city transportation systems alike. "I can imagine these cars starting in closed, campus environments, or cordoned-off test areas with low-speed roads where the risk of collision, injury or death is much lower," Amin said, but ...

One and a half billion people around the world suffer from chronic pain, but an alarming trend is that more and more of them are children. In the United States alone, the number of children who were admitted to a hospital due to chronic pain grew by over 830% in just six years. The good news is that pediatric pain rehabilitation centers, like the one at Boston Children's Hospital, are helping kids find peace with their pain. According to the Boston Globe, there are now more than 30 pediatric pain centers in the United States, which all help children manage pain. They offer treatments and services like acupuncture, biofeedback training, sleep specialists, and exercise facilities. Boston Children's Hospital is the first to offer a day-treatment program. Among children ages seven to 18,...

We've all heard the stereotype of the sleazy car salesman who cons you into buying a junker for an exorbitant price. There's a lot of distrust when it comes to car salespeople, but as it turns out, people trust Congress members even less. In a new poll released by Gallup, members of Congress were listed as the least honest and ethical out of 11 different professions. Fully 61% of respondents listed Congress members as having low or very low honesty and ethical standards, 30% gave them an average rating, and only 7% rated them as having high or very high honesty and ethical standards. The numbers for car salespeople were more favorable. Only 45% of respondents answered that car salespeople had low or very low honesty and ethical standards, while 46% rated them as average. They only had a ...

When construction workers were called to the Massachusetts State House in Boston this past January to assess and fix a water leak in the building’s foundation, the very last thing they probably expected to find was a time capsule in the foundation cornerstone. But that’s exactly what they uncovered when they began working, and it wasn’t just any old time capsule planted a few years ago -- it was a box, dating back to 1795, likely buried by Sam Adams and Paul Revere. According to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, the box was probably placed in the building’s foundation during 1795, when Adams was serving as the Governor and had commissioned the State House to be renovated; Revere, being a renowned metalsmith and engraver during his time (in addition to his superior horse ri...

Christmas miracles really do happen, it seems. A while back, Sumey and David Hageman's four-year-old dachshund, Lola, slipped a disc, crippling her. Her owners had recently bought a house, and therefore couldn't afford the $6,000 surgery Lola needed to walk again. "When Lola came to us, she was completely paralyzed in her back legs, so she was dragging both of the back legs, and the cause of that was a slipped disc in her spinal cord," said veterinarian Michael Wong to the Miami Herald. Unable to pay for their pup's surgery, the heartbroken couple was forced to give their dog away to an animal rescue group. The decision, of course, was not easy. "We had to do what was best for her," said Sumey Hageman, who knew that his family would lose visitation rights with Lola once she was turned...

Last month marked 73 years since the deadly Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan, but the anniversary became a historic moment in its own right when four out of the nine remaining survivors of the USS Arizona came together for what may be the last reunion of its kind. During the attack in 1941, the USS Arizona came under fire and exploded, sinking to the bottom of the bay and bringing 1,177 sailors with it. Today, the ship remains at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, a final resting place for many of those sailors -- and a memorial for those who come to pay their respects. "Memorial events at Pearl Harbor are always very solemn, as it is a time when we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country," says Dale Palileo, Online Marketing Manag...

Since the economy has bounced back from the recessionary landscape that many of us remember all too well, more and more Americans are choosing to make renovations to their homes. Research shows that since 2012, the number of home owners making renovations has increased by 7%. Furthermore, Boston.com reports that according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the amount spent on home renovations should exceed a whopping $145 billion in 2014. But home owners shouldn't break out the paintbrushes and hammers just yet. Many towns and cities across the U.S. have national and local historical districts which limit what a home owner can do in terms of exterior renovations. The national list, the National Register of Historic Places, is the first place home owners should...

Spotify has taken a page right out of Facebook's playbook. The music streaming service has set up a new site -- spotify-yearinmusic.com -- that not only lets users check out what was big in music in 2014 according to Spotify user activity, but also lets individual users see what artists, songs, and genres they listened to the most.Generally speaking, music fans shouldn't be all that surprised by Spotify's findings. In 2014, Spotify's some 50 million active users streamed more than seven billion hours of music -- nearly 800,000 years' worth. The top male artist was Ed Sheeran, who also had the most listened-to album of the year on Spotify. The top female artist was Katy Perry, and the top group was Coldplay. "Happy" by Pharell Williams was the most listened to song of 2014. Things get mo...