Let's hear it for a dog named Boo! The 8-year-old mixed-breed Labrador retriever is a therapy dog at a Putnam County school, where he's helping kids come out of their shells. The Journal News and Putnam County Courier highlighted the incredible story of Marc Oliviere, a six-year-old who was designated a selective mute and attends a school in Mahopac. He's part of a program for students who need help with social and learning skills, and......

Truck driver Alan Nelson of Colorado is used to making long hauls, but not without his best friend riding shotgun, a 23-pound reddish-colored Shiba inu named Sato. Nelson and Sato were reunited last Friday afternoon, after their separation became a news story and galvanized volunteers to search for the dog who ran off from a lower Hudson Valley rest stop. On January 2, Nelson was stopped at a rest area off westbound I-84, about 70......

Well, Assemblyman Michael Benjamin of the Bronx thinks they do. He wants to make cupcakes the official NY State snack, as a way to foil various school districts' cupcake bans. Many schools have restricted the sugary delights of cupcakes over concerns about childhood obesity and diabetes. The Huntington School District in Long Island even banned sweets from bake sales. From the Huntington School District website, via Fox News:"It is the policy of the district that......

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has secured the votes necessary to purchase Dow Jones & Co., Inc. which includes The Wall Street Journal itself. The win comes after a lengthy proxy battle in which the Bancrofts––the family that has acted as stewards of the company from afar for more than a century––resisted a very generous overture from Murdoch. The Australian media tycoon eventually won the day by convincing a......

The Wall Street Journal has an absolutely hysterical/mortifying column today about what happens when one's boss wants to be your "friend" on an online site like MySpace or Facebook. Normally reserved for friends or total strangers, members feel free to share compromising photos or statements on the site. So what does one do when a "Michael Scott"-like boss wants to get tight with his employees and invites you to be in his Friendster circle? Refusing......

If you're still reading the paper version of The New York Times, get ready to spend a little more. Cover prices will go up to $1.25 from $1 starting July 16th. Sunday prices will increase on July 15th, going from $3.50 to $4.00. The last increase for The Times in the New York area was in 1999. The increased prices are projected to add $7-8 million in revenue this year and $14-16 million in......

Sure, the Yankees have lost their fifth game in a row and are 14.5 games behind the Red Sox, but know what's more interesting: Alex Rodriguez's off-the-field activities in Toronto! The Post puts A-Rod on cover, calling him "Stray-Rod," and wondering why he was hanging out with a "mysterious, busty blonde" at a strip club AND his hotel. Apparently he went to the strip club with two other guys, but he was seen going into......

The Wall Street Journal won two Pulitzer Prizes today, the most of any newspaper this year. The Journal's honored articles were for Public Service (the backdating of stock options by executives) and International Reporting ("its sharply edged reports on the adverse impact of China's booming capitalism on conditions ranging from inequality to pollution"). The NY Times won for Andrea Elliott's three-part series on a Brooklyn imam, while Newsday's Walt Handelsman won for editorial cartoons. And......

The Journal-Times of Racine, Wisconsin has a great video feature on the Wagner Company which makes Festivus Poles. Wagner typically produces railings, which is probably why making a Festivus pole is so easy. They are 100% aluminum and come in a 6 foot floor model as well as a 2 foot 8 inch table top model. And check out how you can take care of the surface:Surface Finish: In keeping with the precepts of......

The husband accused of promoting his wife's suicide is being examined at a mental hospital. Victor Han was released on $75,000 bail and then went to Summit Park Hospital, after jail psychiatrist recommended he be held for observation. The Journal News reports that he had been on suicide watch since last Thursday. Han's wife, Hejin, drove their minivan off a Bear Mountain scenic point with their two daughters in the car, after Han managed stepped......

Speculation continues in the suicide death of Hejin Han and whether or not her husband Victor tried to help her. The Post reports that while Han claims he tried to save his family ("I broke the window with a rock and unlocked the door") but police say Han let the car roll down between boulders and down a cliff at Bear Mountain. Han also told the police that his wife was "obsessed about financial bills......

More and more questions are being asked about the circumstances of Staten Island resident Hejin Han's suicide plunge in a minivan at Bear Mountain. Han's husband Victor, who watched as the van fell with their two young daughters in the back, had been charged with promoting suicide, two counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of endangering a child (both daughters managed to survive, as they were wearing their seatbelts). He was granted bail by......

The boy in New Jersey who was suspected of having monkeypox actually has chickenpox. Yes, chickenpox. In actual monkeypox news, Wisconsin is downplaying the human transmission of monkeypox angle but allows the disease could be airborne. Jeez Louise. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a wonderful graphic explaining how monkeypox might have come to the U.S., complete with Gambian Giant Rats's route from Africa to here. The Journal-Sentinel is Gothamist's new favorite read because of the coverage......

Aha! Yesterday, Gothamist found a graphic about monkey pox that only had prairie dogs. Now we've found one with Gambian Giant Rats called out as the ones to have originally infected the prairie dogs and other pets. This as the number of monkeypox infected is now at 48. Authorities are trying to place Gambian giant rats in the same vicinity as prairie dogs. The Milwauke Journal-Sentinel says that health officials are asking families not to......