Apply for unclaimed controlled hunt tags by Aug. 15

For a wide variety of reasons, some of the lucky hunters who drew tags in the deer, elk, antelope and bear controlled-hunt drawing did not buy their tags.

OTC medications at wholesale prices

Diabetes is an awful disease.

Marty and Max: Real Estate Recipes

Today we will discuss two ways to buy an actively marketed home at a bargain, where you actually want to live.

Playing the health insurance shell game

Last Wednesday, we were treated to another nonsensical "My Turn" by Chuck Malloy, where he started off by thanking goodness for insurance. He went on to say that he needed to purchase an insulin pen and the cost of a five pack over the counter without insurance was $500, but thanks to the wonderful insurance world, he only paid $35.

Negotiating in a strong market

Regular readers know that we consider ourselves in a strong market. Of course, as with all things real estate the market is very specific to your location and although North Idaho real estate is moving at a comfortable pace, not every nook and cranny of our market is booming.

Purchase controlled hunt tags by Saturday

Big game hunters who were successful in drawing controlled hunt tags for deer, elk, pronghorn and black bear have until 11 p.m. PDT, Saturday, Aug. 1 to buy their tags.

Taste, taste, taste

Mary and I affectionately refer to tasting wine many times as "homework." For us while it really isn't work at all it is a big part of the job, as we never feel comfortable or confident recommending a wine to a customer if we have not tried it first regardless of the price we pay and therefore charge our customers, it has to meet our standards. Allegorically, customers can and for their own protection should approach wine the same way.

Cholesterol controversy: Part II

What about eating cholesterol making your cholesterol go up? That was debunked clear back in the 1990s, yet it is still perpetuated. According to a report from the Harvard School of Public Health, "The amount of cholesterol in food is not very strongly linked to cholesterol levels in the blood." We now know that blood levels of cholesterol are mostly determined by metabolism - how the body makes, uses and disposes of cholesterol. In fact, cholesterol is so essential, the body makes most of its own. The brain and liver make about 1,500 mg/day, yet the "experts" recommend an upper limit dietary intake of cholesterol at 300mg/day! If the body makes that much of its own, it's obvious that we need a lot. And we do.

At what cost?

Constantly changing online prices stump shoppers

NEW YORK - Online shopping has become as volatile as stock market trading. Wild, minute-by-minute price swings on everything from clothes to TVs have made it difficult for holiday shoppers to "buy low."

Shopping early - extreme version

Sales prices entice people to leave home on Thanksgiving

COEUR d'ALENE — Tammi Garrett and Don Downey of Post Falls left their dirty Thanksgiving dishes on the counter, grabbed a bottle of apple cider and rushed over to Target in Coeur d'Alene Thursday evening.

Amazon vs. everyone else

Battle for holiday shoppers heats up

NEW YORK - This holiday shopping season, it's Amazon vs. everyone else.

The cart before the horse?

Movie studios' view-everywhere system has soft launch

Controlled hunt drawing results online

Hunters who applied for elk, deer, pronghorn, fall turkey and black bear controlled hunts can check online to see whether they were successful in the recent computerized drawing.

No over-the-counter, nonresident deer, elk tags available this year

No over-the-counter nonresident deer, elk tags available this year Controlled hunt tags must be purchased this week or forfeited

Frugal food can be found

Healthy eating can cost less, study finds

Are online pharmacies legitimate?

If you think that you'll get a bargain from an online pharmacy, think again. According to a 2012 analysis of nearly 1,000 online pharmacies by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which accredits online pharmacies and represents state pharmacy boards all over the United States, only around 3 percent appear to be legitimate. The NABP found that 85 percent of the online drugstores it looked into do not require a valid prescription from the consumer's physician, and nearly half provided foreign drugs or medications not approved by the FDA. While there are Canadian online pharmacies that are legitimately regulated, many websites that purport to be Canadian are not. Worse yet, you may not even get the drug you ordered.

Retailers getting desperate

Free necklaces and shipping for holiday shoppers?

NEW YORK - Retailers are so desperate this holiday season that they're willing to lose money to get you to spend yours.

WinEconomy III

Prices falling again?

Over the past months we had found that wine prices had begun a stabilization that would not only be welcomed by wineries and grape growers but to some degree was needed to ensure the financial health of the industry. In just the last couple of weeks though we have started to see broad based and very deep discounting at the wholesale price level that leads us to think we have some time to go when great wine can be had at compelling prices.

VOTERS: Don’t get gouged

Would you vote for someone who is wealthy because they hid price gouging fees in the 17 pages of fine print few people read before buying products from his company? Because you can if you want to, right here in Kootenai County, for a four-year term as county commissioner.

Review: Apps to make holiday shopping easier