March 2022

Being in natural light improves mood, increases happiness

Dear Doctors: My company called the employees back to the office, and I’m dreading it. There aren’t many windows, and it’s all fluorescent lights. Being able to be outdoors while working from home has been great. I know I’m less depressed when I get to be in daylight. Is there any science behind that?

What’s going on with my live oak?

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Live oaks (Quercus virginiana) are very active this time of year — putting out pollen and shedding leaves from the canopy to produce new leaves. Many allergy sufferers, including myself, find this time of year quite difficult.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Calendar Guidelines

Man in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot says he lied after arrest

(AP) — A second man who pleaded guilty in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer admitted Friday that he lied at times after being arrested in 2020 because he didn’t want to go to jail.

Democrats appear united on Jackson; GOP votes may be elusive

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin announced Friday that he plans to vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court, likely clearing the path for President Joe Biden’s historic nominee to be confirmed. But Democratic hopes of securing significant Republican support for Jackson’s nomination appear to be fading.

Affordable housing, long overlooked, getting federal boost

BOSTON (AP) — After her home flooded five times in the past year, Tilicia Owens was on edge with every impending storm and ready to leave her Detroit neighborhood behind.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

US ready to auction wind energy rights off Carolinas coast

N.O. school board reverses school ban on jazz

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans school board has unanimously reversed a little known but century-old ban on jazz in schools in a city which played a huge role in developing jazz and where it is still played nightly at various venues.

Ukraine war drives US, EU deal to undercut Russian energy

BRUSSELS (AP) — With stunning speed, Russia’s war in Ukraine is driving Western Europe into the outstretched arms of the United States again, and the embrace was especially apparent when President Joe Biden offered a major expansion of natural gas shipments to his European Union counterpart Friday.

A different beat

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Isn’t technology a wonderful thing? If you think about how far we’ve come in the past 25 years when it comes to being able to bring the world closer together at your fingertips, it’s mind boggling.