Carrie Kirby

When we stepped out of the elevator in my daughter’s dorm on move-in day, her younger sister dramatically pointed to a fixture on the wall.
“There! That’s where you will fill your water bottle!”
It had become a family joke over the course of the summer. I had joined a few college parent Facebook groups, and had learned that the parents had questions.
So. Many. Questions.
“What do students wear from the showers back to their dorm room?”
“What winter coat should I buy my student for the Wiscons...

In October, we shared the story of the Carleo family, whose bank accounts were cleaned out to the tune of $130,000 after a mysterious phone call. The Carleos got their money back only after a little media attention. Thefts like what happened to them continue to proliferate — so it’s time to take extra precautions to safeguard your accounts.
Bank account fraud has grown so much in recent years that nearly everyone has a story about it. There are victims who received phone calls from imposters ...

My mom and I have both spent much of our adult lives taking care of other people, so when my Australian cousin invited us to his Sydney wedding, we decided to take a trip all on our own. No one to look after but ourselves. And I wanted to make sure it was spectacular.
I’ve been collecting and using points for economy flights for years, often to shuttle the family from our home in California to my parents in Wisconsin. But I wasn’t willing to put my mother in coach on the long flight to Austra...

Unmatched by any other airline loyalty perk, the Southwest Companion Pass can make every flight you take into a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Once you earn the pass, you can use it for the rest of the calendar year — and all of the following year — to bring along a designated buddy every time you fly, nearly free of cost.
Whether you designate your spouse, child, or even a business partner, a Companion Pass can save you thousands of dollars a year on airfare.
Table of contents
How to qualify for...

“Did you see the northern lights?”
I got this question a lot when I returned from cruising up the coast of Norway in July.
No, I did not. When the midnight sun is shining, it doesn’t leave a lot of darkness for the aurora borealis to shine.
Even with no northern lights, Arctic Norway has a lot to offer in summer: late-night “sunsets” where the ever-illuminated sky goes deep pink but never darkens, mountain hikes, reindeer, vacationing huskies, scenic twisty drives, waterfalls and — if you’re ...

In its push to better care for its animals, Perdue is challenging everything.
Produced by AP Content Services, the paid content service of The Associated Press.
The AP news staff was not involved in the creation of this content.
There is a distinct sound one hears well before stepping foot into the chicken house near Perdue Farms’ Salisbury, Maryland, headquarters.
It begins as a soft chorale from the outside and only grows more electric once you step over the threshold to find hundreds of fl...

Chicago Cubs star Ian Happ is selling coffee to raise money for charity.

The new generation is redefining the workplace
Alma Klein, 47, enjoys managing a team that is about one-third generation Z.
But she says she also has a list of “things they are comfortable with that would have sent me into a coma when I was a junior employee.”
Things like broadly sharing their salary figures. Requesting a one-on-one meeting with a senior manager immediately upon hiring. Disclosing mental health struggles and requesting accommodations.
Klein, SVP creative director at Arc World...

As glaciers melt, coastlines crumble and weather patterns all over the world become more chaotic, you’re probably asking yourself: What can I do to slow climate change?
If you are an investor, one thing you can do is to create a climate-friendly portfolio. But how to get started? Even if you have a sizable fund to invest, can one person really make a difference?
We asked Chicago experts and companies to weigh in, and the answer is: Yes. You can make a difference for the climate — and make mon...

While the artificial intelligence revolution holds great promise, what happens when the now-ubiquitous algorithms wreak havoc in our lives? Iowa law professors on the cutting edge of this field offer insights.