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Using baking soda can be abrasive on your teeth

Dear Heloise: A wonderful way to clean stubborn coffee residue from pots, cups, and even your teeth is baking soda. Make a paste of baking soda and water, then rub it right off! Also, adding a little baking soda on your toothbrush will keep your teeth sparkling. The reason that this works is because coffee residue is acidic, while baking soda is alkaline and therefore neutralizes the stain. –– J.H., in Helena, Montana J.H., baking soda has always been a favorite cleanser here at Heloise Central. It has so many uses and is safe to use on a number of surfaces. However, it can be ...

Sudden, dramatic weight loss causes concern

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 75-year-old woman with a weight problem. My weight used to fluctuate from 130 pounds to 160 pounds. Then I started to notice that I was losing weight slowly but surely on my regular diet. My doctor did not have an answer. Soon I got down to 95 pounds. My family urges me to eat more than I feel comfortable with. I weigh 104 pounds today. Do you have any idea what could be causing this dramatic weight loss? I still struggle with keeping my weight up to 105 pounds! My height is 5 feet, 4 inches, and I really am quite “bony.” Thank you for any help you can give ...

Kids lose when parents undermine each other

Dear Annie: I read with interest your response to the mother whose spouse undermines her authority in front of their 6-year-old daughter. As a mother, foster parent and now a grandmother, I’ve seen firsthand how damaging it can be when parents don’t present a united front. Every time one parent undercuts the other, they chip away at that parent’s authority –– and they teach the child to manipulate the divide. This behavior may seem minor now, but trust me, it sets the stage for chaos during the teen years. Children need consistent rules and consequences to feel secure and ...

Horoscope

ARIES (March 21-April 19). There’s nothing in your world today that requires your constant vigilance, analyzation or judgment. It’s OK to decide not to decide. Calm your mind, and it will reset to a more open perspective when you return to decision-making. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Whether it’s a desire that’s been shining like a beacon for years or secreted until now, there is possibility and support all around you. See it once and you recognize it everywhere — the positive signs pointing you toward your heart’s fond wishes. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Since self-awareness ...

Pope Francis dies at age 88

Pope Francis has died at age 88. History’s first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated many conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. He had suffered from chronic lung disease. He was admitted to a hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there in the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy. He last appeared in public on Sunday with an Easter morning blessing and popemobile tour through a crowd of thousands in St. Peter’s Square.

Today in History

Today is Monday, April 21, the 111th day of 2025. There are 254 days left in the year. Today in history: On April 21, 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis from an accidental fentanyl overdose; he was 57. Also on this date: In 1836, an army of Texans, led by Sam Houston, defeated the Mexican Army, led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, in the Battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution. In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in ...