Monday, July 22, 2002, 9:38 a.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 284.52 points to 7734.74. I push on a glass door and enter into a small lobby. This is the downtown Charles Schwab …

According to Dr. Robert Gunn of the county health department, the term "venereal" was phased out in favor of "sexually transmitted disease" (STD) in the 1970s because "the term 'venereal' comes from Venus, the goddess …

It's hot and it's dry in Bear Valley, in the foothills northeast of Escondido. The grass in the fields crackles underfoot. The live oaks on the hillsides and in the barrancas appear half dead, a …

Padres owner John Moores, who raised a stink when he held a January fundraiser at his posh Rancho Santa Fe estate on behalf of fellow UC regent Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action "Racial Privacy Initiative," has …

Matthew: I was in high school when the 805 was built and open for business. I seem to remember hearing that the day before it was open to cars, it was open to the public …

Dear Matthew: A friend says that if I paint myself with house paint, I would drown. Could this be true? I wanted to paint myself silver, but now I'm not so sure. -- Cindy, San …

Hey: Other than an occasional victory cigar, we've never seen pictures of our U.S. presidents with a cigarette in their hand. Were there any modern-day presidents that actively inhaled while in office? -- Ken, Cardiff …

The two major subdivisions of the California desert (the Mojave and Colorado Deserts), plus an outlying stretch of chaparral habitat, intersect in the 4500-acre Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, north of Palm Springs. Bighorn sheep, bobcats, …