Local & State

LANSING, MI –  Marybeth Smith, mother to a son suffering from Bipolar Disorder, as well as someone battling the illness herself, writes a novel aimed at helping young adults understand mental illness.

“Too many teenagers today feel alone in coping with depression or other mental illnesses,” Smith comments. “They should know there are others out there who understand what they are going through.”

Finding out information about Social Security does not have to be difficult for you and your family.

Log on to www.ssa.gov and find answers to your questions before you call.

Lansing Social Security Office to Begin Closing at 3:30 pm Daily
Congressional Budget Cuts Force Reduced Public Hours

Effective August 15, 2011, the Lansing Social Security office will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – a reduction of 30 minutes each weekday.

By Sandip Roy
newamericamedia.com

Synopsis: The slaughter in Oslo shows that immigrants — especially Muslims — are reviled as “The Others,” even as Europe needs them to mop its floors.

If you are an immigrant in Europe, especially a Muslim, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

By Manish Madan

Miles apart from India, here in Michigan I wake up. First thing, I open up India’s leading news website to catch up on what is happening in one of the most promising and an economically rising nation. I wish to read some good stories to begin my day but my morning is struck by a certain news item that I find almost every other day, on the front page – deeply engraved by a common theme “Violence and brutality against women”.

Dear Tamara:

I have a huge relationship dilemma. My boyfriend and I have been dating since our sophomore year in high school. Yes, we are your stereotypical match made in heaven. The captain of the football team and head cheerleader, the prom king and queen, voted most likely to be married, etc., etc. Everyone, thinks we are a perfect couple. The problem is, my boyfriend accepted a scholarship to a school out west and I am in Ohio. It feels like we are worlds apart and I think the distance between us has changed our relationship.

By Robert Pagliarini,
Tribune Media Services

It’s everyone’s dream. Winning the big jackpot that changes everything. But even if you weren’t one of the winner’s in last week’s $380 million Mega Millions lottery, the issues that come with sudden money may still apply to you. In fact, you have many opportunities to experience sudden money that have nothing to do with winning the lottery.