Alkaline water can help with heartburn

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to a bonus edition of our monthly letters column. We are receiving a lot of questions about the various respiratory tract infections that become common this time of year and will have columns on them soon. In the meantime, with such full inboxes, we’ll dive right into your letters.

(AP) — Several U.S. Catholic bishops on Wednesday encouraged the church to boldly share Vatican teachings on a range of hot-button issues, including the condemnation of abortion, euthanasia, surrogacy and gender- affirming surgery.

Mom dreads impending empty nest feelings

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, and my son is about to leave for his mission to Argentina for the next two years. While I am proud of him and his decision to serve, the thought of him being so far away for so long is really hard for me. We’ve always been close, and I’ve watched him grow into such a compassionate, thoughtful young man. The idea of not having him around and having minimal contact with him, especially knowing he’ll be facing new challenges in a foreign country, fills me with a mixture of pride, worry and sadness.

The case for mass deportations

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to “launch the largest deportation of criminals in American history.” That is a quote from a Nov. 2 rally in Salem, Virginia, but Trump has said precisely the same thing dozens of times. Still, through the course of a long campaign, with his improvisational style, Trump has occasionally worded his pledge differently.

Close friend can’t seem to keep a secret

DEAR HARRIETTE: My friend keeps telling others about my private business, and it’s starting to feel like a real betrayal. I recently started seeing someone new, and because my friend and I are very close, I shared the news with her. I was excited to tell her, and I trusted her to keep it between us. But almost immediately, I started hearing from other friends and even some casual acquaintances asking me about the new guy I’m seeing! It’s frustrating because I’m still getting to know him, and I wanted to keep things quiet until I felt more comfortable and surer about the relationship.

In 1851, the first American edition of Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” was published.

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