One night, I heard a tapping on the glass of my bedroom’s French door and saw a shadow disappear around the corner. I pulled the gun from under my bed and loaded it in five seconds.

'Never Mind the Dog, Beware of the Owner," reads the sign posted in a window near the front door of Nelson Buhler's home on Beagle Street in Kearny Mesa. The four-bedroom house is blue and …

The all-too-familiar scenario of a Super Bowl team demanding a new stadium and threatening to leave town is being repeated in Denver, where, as in San Diego, the major daily newspaper is leading the charge …

He's up. Finian is up on all fours, rocking back and forth, mouth open, eyes alight with desire for Da's keys, just out of reach. He rocks because the legs are willing, but the arms …

Six days later, another tarantula crawled into a friend’s house across town. His kitten stalked it and his wife screamed. By then we had learned that tarantulas are “beneficials” who kill insects in the grove.

Dear M.A.: When my friends and I are running around having a good time, are we raising "cane" or raising "cain"? The first makes more sense, but my friend insists it's the latter. Explain, please. …