Fierce Colo. fire hungry for more homes

A fierce wildfire 12 miles west of Boulder, Colo., that burned dozens of homes continued to rage uncontained Tuesday, prompting evacuations of more than 3,000 people, authorities said. More evacuations are expected, city spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said. Although no injuries have been reported in the fire, several residents woke up Tuesday feeling the loss of a home. “Everything’s a little bit surreal at this point, but my family’s safe, so I can be thankful for that much right now,” said resident Nika Perkins, whose parents lost their home in the fire Monday. The…

Green Lantern: Environmental benefits of telecommuting are not universal

I’d love to stay home in my pajamas rather than fight through traffic so I can sit in a cubicle all day. I need help convincing my boss that working from home is a good idea. How much greener is telecommuting than dragging my sorry bones to work? The Lantern has been enjoying the pleasures of telecommuting for years, and its advantages are many — that is, unless you like vehicle exhaust, tiny workspaces, dress codes and wasting your time. Working from home is a win-win situation for workers and employers. The technology company Cisco recently surveyed 1,992 employees who telecommuted an average of two days per week. The workers reported increased productivity and quality of work. …

Whole Foods CEO: Healthy food is affordable necessity

Time flies when you’re running one of the world’s most profitable grocery chains. Whole Foods, the organic and natural foods supermarket trendsetter, turns 30 on Sept. 20. It has been widely imitated in style and concept. Its pricing has garnered it the pop culture nickname “Whole Paycheck.” The relatively tiny chain, which has 300 units in 38 states, has had a cultural impact more akin to that of Starbucks, which has more than 11,000 U.S. locations. Yet, last year, in one of its most challenging years ever, Whole Foods (WFMI) still posted sales of $8 billion. It is about …

Biloxi church fights storm, feeds the people after Katrina

BILOXI — The Rev. Kenneth Haynes Sr. knelt in prayer in the baptismal pool inside Main St. Missionary Baptist Church as Hurricane Katrina started to rip apart the roof. More than 120 members of his congregation who had come to the church for shelter huddled nearby in a multipurpose room on the second floor. The first story of the church already was filled with water and Haynes worried the building might collapse. Talking about that day five years later, Haynes said God told him, “Stand on your faith, not on your fear.” The church withstood the …

Chile, divided by quake, unites around miners

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — Just six months ago, one of the largest earthquakes in a century tore Chile apart, physically ripping the ground, triggering a deadly tsunami and leaving in the wreckage a divided society and government trying to decide whom to blame. Now, with Chile confronting a new disaster — 33 men trapped alive in a mine below the Atacama Desert since Aug. 5 — the nation is unified by the drama playing out in…

Glenn Beck supporters head for Washington, D.C., rally

WASHINGTON — Glenn Beck’s supporters started boarding buses days ago in cities as far from the nation’s capital as Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Houston. Heading east for a grass-roots show of force on Saturday, they will join the conservative icon for a rally that he says is aimed at “restoring honor” to a troubled nation. “People are upset with the direction of the country,” says Patti Weaver, head of the Pittsburgh Tea Party, who is bringing 900 people on 16 …

Vet’s view: Backyard chickens are fun, and lay the best eggs

Are you hard-boiling your eggs after the recall? I’m not. While I’ll heartily agree it’s good policy to cook your eggs thoroughly in the wake of last week’s widening egg recall, I will NOT be among those declining to dine on the barely poached and shiveringly soft-boiled. Not that salmonella contamination isn’t a big deal or that I’m thinking my super-human immune system can handle it. Nope, it’s just that … a) I like my eggs unapologetically runny, thank you …

Study links poverty to depression among mothers

More than half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of mild to severe depression, potentially creating problems in parenting and in child development, according to a new study. This Story Study links poverty to depression among mothers Study: Working mothers not necessarily harmful to children’s development Study: More kids born to older moms than to teens In what was described as the first detailed portrait of its kind, researchers reported that one in nine infants in poverty had a mother with severe depression and that such mothers typically breastfed their children for shorter periods than other mothers who were poor. “A mom who is too sad to get up…

Fortunes shine for GOP in Fla., Ariz.

Big campaign war chests helped veteran Sen. John McCain easily win his Republican primary in Arizona on Tuesday and newcomer Rick Scott upset a party stalwart in Florida’s GOP gubernatorial contest, on a night that also set up key three-way battles for the fall. Scott used $39 million of his personal fortune to defeat state Attorney General Bill McCollum, backed by ex-governor Jeb Bush, for the GOP nomination for the state’s top job. McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, spent more than $20 million in Arizona to defeat former congressman J.D. Hayworth and win a chance for a fifth term. Taking an indirect shot at his one-time rival, President Obama, McCain predicted voters…

Texting, apps can turn cellphones into health tools that work

WASHINGTON — What if my blood sugar’s too high today? Is it time for my blood pressure pill? With nagging text messages or more customized two-way interactions, researchers are trying to harness the power of cellphones to help fight chronic diseases. “I call it medical minutes,” says Dr. Richard Katz of George Washington University Hospital in the nation’s capital. He’s testing whether inner-city diabetics, an especially hard-to-treat population, might better control their blood sugar — and thus save Medicaid dollars — by tracking their disease using Internet-…

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