Ideastream Public Media

It's that time of the summer when people who love fireworks revel in lighting up the night sky — and people with pets sensitive to the loud booms fret over how to handle their anxious animals. WVXU asked CARE Center ER veterinarian, Dr. Rachel Halpin, for tips on how to help pets during fireworks-friendly holidays. She says one of the biggest issues is dogs getting scared and running away.

Historically, Quakers don't celebrate traditional holidays, because we believe every day is equally holy. So beyond some strung-up lights and watching "The Holdovers," Christmas, as a day, doesn’t mean much to me.

The cost of living continued to climb in November — though a little less than two months ago — as seven in ten Americans say they're barely able to pay their bills. Consumer prices in November were up 2.7% from a year ago, according to a report Thursday from the Labor Department. That's a smaller annual increase than for the 12 months ending in September, when inflation was clocked at 3%. Prices rose 0.2% between September and November.

Cleveland reached another milestone Thursday in its long march toward creating a more beautiful Lake Erie waterfront with better connections to downtown. The nonprofit North Coast Waterfront Development Corp. announced the selection of Brecksville-based DiGeronimo Development as master developer of 50 acres on the lakefront split between parking lots on Dock 32 west of North Coast Harbor and land now occupied by the city-owned Huntington Bank Field, home, for now, of the NFL Browns.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Venezuelans are once again bracing for uncertainty as President Donald Trump threatens a blockade that could cut off the country's ability to sell oil — its main source of revenue. For many, the rhetoric revives memories of years defined by recession, hyperinflation and chronic shortages. Still, after many years of economic and political turmoil, some Venezuelans say they are coping the only way they know how: by carrying on.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV tapped Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the influential Archdiocese of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who led New York's 2.8 million Catholics for 16 years. Dolan, following Vatican rules, had tendered his resignation when he turned 75 in February. Like Leo, Hicks, 58, is a supporter of Pope Francis' welcoming and inclusive vision of Catholicism with an eye toward social justice.

Liz Goggin recently had an encounter that reminded her of why she once cherished being a federal employee. She had taken her kids out for ice cream and stopped to chat with a man who was blowing balloons and selling them for a couple of bucks. She quickly learned he was a veteran, struggling with housing issues along with serious health issues — some psychological.

President Trump used a primetime address Wednesday to celebrate his achievements since returning to office. Did his words do enough to ease the economic anxieties being felt by many Americans?

The Trump administration is expected to announce several moves Thursday that will have the effect of essentially banning gender-affirming care for transgender young people, even in states where it is still legal. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be announcing the measures in a press conference at 11 a.m. at the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services.

DOHA, Qatar —When 10-year-old Bayan Al-Ankah was fatally shot in the head by the Israeli military while in a displaced persons camp in Gaza last week, according to her family, she became one of several hundred Palestinians killed during a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Mediators Qatar and Egypt worry that the truce is threatened by near-daily Israeli attacks in Gaza.