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Too neighborly for my own good

Dear Annie: My neighbor has taken “borrowing a cup of sugar” to ridiculous levels. In the past six months, she’s borrowed my ladder, my hedge clippers, two baking pans and, most recently, my patio chairs for her daughter’s graduation party. She always promises to return things “tomorrow,” but I usually have to go ask, and sometimes they come back a little worse for wear. She’s perfectly pleasant, and we have to live next to each other, but I’m starting to feel like the neighborhood rental shop. How do I put a stop to this without seeming totally unreasonable ...

Horoscope

We needn’t fear the shadows. They show us where the edges are. Without shadows, the world would be a whiteout. No shapes could appear, nothing distinct, nothing interesting, nothing seen. The Capricorn moon throws shade to Neptune, Saturn and Venus in turn, reminding us that contrast is the mechanism of understanding. Dark gives meaning to everything illuminated. ARIES (March 21-April 19). Because you keep your word, you keep the trust of everyone you deal with. Of course, it’s always easier to do when you don’t offer too much. Make it easy on yourself by underpromising so you ...

Oscars presenters add a former host, three nominees and a famous father-son duo

(AP) — It’ll be big year for Pullmans at the Oscars. The show’s producers said Wednesday that Bill Pullman and his son Lewis Pullman have joined the starry roster of presenters for Sunday’s live broadcast of the 98th annual Academy Awards. Also included in this batch are nominees Rose Byrne, Wagner Moura and Delroy Lindo, former Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel, as well as Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver. Oscars producers told The Associated Press that audiences should expect even more stars than have been announced, though. Showrunner and executive producer Raj ...

Hints From Heloise

Caring for African violets Dear Heloise: I kept an African violet on my desk at work that never bloomed, no matter how much I cared for it. An older gentleman at the company who grew African violets at home under grow lights offered to take mine home. He nurtured it carefully and, once buds appeared, returned it to me in full bloom. For several years, whenever the blossoms faded, I gave the violet back to him, and he coaxed it to bloom again. Eventually, he retired. After his retirement, the violet — sitting quietly on my desk — began to bud and bloom on its own for the very ...

Blue state suicide

It’s not just California and New York. All across the nation, blue states are committing political and economic suicide by targeting millionaires with high taxes. Who will suffer most from this misguided, ideologically driven push to punish the wealthy? Wage workers and the poor. Leftist Democratic pols calling for states to tax the rich are ignoring the fact that the rich can exit their state, taking jobs, tax revenue and the right to congressional representation with them. The states that fall for the tax-the-rich mania will be left in the dust, with failing economies and shrinking ...

Battle over child literacy

“My child can’t read!” That’s become a common complaint from parents. Why? It might be because kids are distracted by social media and video games. But I think it’s also because reading instruction became lazy and political. “Progressives” at teachers’ colleges pushed a reading technique called “Balanced Literacy.” Instead of memorizing sounds and letters, teachers push what they call “cueing,” guessing words based on their context, or pictures. Balanced Literacy downplays “structured phonics,” the older technique where kids memorize letters’ ...