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Bridge by Steve Becker

You don’t have to be a great mathematician to be a good declarer (or defender). All you need is the ability to count to 13. Consider this deal where West leads the Q-J of hearts, which South allows to hold, and then shifts to a low spade. It is certainly reasonable for declarer to conclude at this stage that West started with exactly two hearts. South wins East’s jack of spades with the ace and plays a diamond to the queen. East takes the ace and returns a heart to declarer’s ace, on which West discards a spade. When South next leads a diamond to the king, West discards a ...

My experience with comfrey

I have always been fascinated by plants that seem to have a story of their own, and comfrey is one that continues to capture my attention. With its broad, hairy leaves and delicate bell-shaped flowers, comfrey may not look particularly remarkable at first glance. But once I learned more about this old-fashioned herb, I began to understand why it has been grown and valued for centuries. Comfrey is a hardy perennial that thrives in moist, fertile soil. Once established, it produces large leaves throughout the growing season and flowers that attract pollinators. It can grow several feet ...

The difference between bed bugs and bat bugs

Finding a small, reddish-brown bug in your home can be concerning, especially when it resembles a bed bug. However, not every bug that looks like a bed bug is one. Bat bugs (Cimex adjunctus) are close relatives of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) and can sometimes be found indoors, making identification important. Traveling to far areas of the globe shrinks our world and allows pests to travel in our belongings home with us. Bed bugs are common in many areas of the world, and many people never think about what is in bed with them. Bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed and feed ...

Calendar

Here are upcoming gardening events through the Ohio State University Extension Office. For more information and a complete list, contact: • OSU Mahoning County Extension Office, 490 S. Broad St., Canfield. 330-533-5538. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. • OSU Trumbull County Extension Office, 520 W. Main St. Suite 1, Cortland. 330-638-6783. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Plant and Pest Clinic You can submit your questions by calling the Mahoning County office at 330-533-5538 or emailing us at mahoningclinic@osu.edu. ...

DEAR ANNIE: My sudden boyfriend isn’t the right match

DEAR ANNIE: I’m 22, working full time in the city, and recently started dating a guy I met through a mutual friend. We’ve only been seeing each other for about a month, and he really is a sweetheart. The problem is, the more I get to know him, the more I wonder whether we are simply in very different places in life. He is in his late 20s, lives at home and works part time as a delivery driver while waiting to start a city job sometime next year. I understand that people go through transitional periods, but from what I gather, he was unemployed for about a year before taking this ...