The Tampa Bay Times introduces us to the Kellogg family. Dan and Susie Kellogg sold their home in 2012 and hit the road in their RV with their 12 kids in tow. The kids are home schooled, and Dan is a software engineer who works from his laptop. The kids spend their mornings doing schoolwork and their afternoons hiking, climbing or kayaking. They’re in Tampa for the annual RV convention.

Those who grew up in the Cold War era remember duck-and-cover drills. The New York Times says the lockdown is today’s equivalent. In the wake of recent school shootings, schools regularly hold lockdown drills, where teachers will flick off the lights and students will move away from doors and windows. Some students say the drills are more of an annoyance while some parents say it contributes to paranoia among children. VIDEO

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with a drug that helped mice forget a painful memory from the past. The Boston Globe says the research is far from being applied to people, but it does offer promise that we will one day have better ways of treating conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In the Los Angeles Times, rescuers and the rescued recall the earthquake that rattled the San Fernando Valley 20 years ago today. Firefighter Mike Henry talks about surveying the damage and discovering that the second and third floors of an apartment complex had collapsed onto the first floor. 16 people were killed in the building.

How do radio stations compete with streaming music services like Spotify and Pandora? By offering less variety than ever. The Wall Street Journal says research has confirmed that listeners stay tuned when they hear a familiar song - and tune out when they hear something they don’t recognize. The top 10 songs of last year were played twice as often on the radio as the top 10 songs from a decade ago.

Banned for life from sanctioned events including cycling races and triathlons, Lance Armstrong spends a lot of time working on his golf game. Armstrong tells USA Today he will eventually disclose his cycling misdeeds, but only as part of a global effort to reform the sport. He says there will one day be a test for blood transfusions, and it will prove his 2009 Tour de France victory was clean.

Pollution isn’t all bad. This winter’s dry air in California has been leading to some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Scientists tell the San Jose Mercury News that pollution particles trapped in the dry air scatter light to create the beautiful array of colors. One meteorologist says go ahead and take pictures, just don’t breathe.

Airport dining has come a long way. The Wall Street Journal’s Scott McCartney shares his favorite airport restaurants across the country. McCartney says airports these days offer celebrity chefs, farm fresh ingredients and impressive wine lists. He says gourmet has taken off at airports because travelers are generally willing to splurge.

For the families of some U.S. Olympians - the hardest part of the Olympic journey might be figuring out how to pay for the trip to Sochi. USA Today says families are struggling to find hotel rooms and book flights to see their loved ones compete. Some athletes only qualified in the last few weeks, so tickets and rooms are even harder to come by with the games just weeks away.

The Wall Street Journal says New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichik really is a mad scientist. In an effort to prepare his team for playoff games, Belichik brings in practice squad players that are virtual clones of the opposing team members. Players that match the height, weight and even the speed of stars on the opposing team are signed for the week for about $6000.

Former NFL wide receiver Nate Jackson writes an Op-Ed in the New York Times where he says football fans should be rooting for a cold, snowy Super Bowl next month at Met Life Stadium. He says too often football has no variables and is unexciting. Jackson says extreme weather causes coaches to throw out the carefully crafted playbook and the players are forced to rely on their raw athletic skills.

The documentary Blackfish, which questioned the treatment of whales kept in captivity, has led to a backlash against SeaWorld. But two former SeaWorld trainers are casting doubts about some of the claims made in the documentary. The trainers tell the San Antonio Express-News that the film was made to push an agenda and relied on trainers who were not involved in the incidents they discussed.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has some tips for making your own bagels. Ingredients are key - and you should look for barley malt syrup as your sweetener. And the secret ingredient - a little bit of ground black pepper. You won’t taste it, but you’ll notice the bagel has more flavor.

DNA sequencing giant Illumina says the cost of testing the human genome is now below $1000. The San Diego Union-Tribune says it cost $95 million to do the same test in 2001 and $6000 just last year. On an individual level, it means doctors will be able to determine which diseases we’re predisposed to and which drugs would work best. Illumina’s CEO compared bringing the price below $1000 to breaking the sound barrier.

The New York Times reports the National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers across the world allowing the agency to conduct surveillance on those machines - even if they’re not connected to the internet. The technology uses radio waves to transmit data to receivers that can be miles away from the target. In most cases, the radio frequency hardware must be physically inserted by a spy.

A Florida couple has Pearly the Parrot to thank for saving them from a fire in their Fort Lauderdale home. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the couple awoke to screeching they’d never heard before. They discovered a fire in the laundry room - and firefighters arrived within minutes to put it out. VIDEO

The wise old owl is popping up everywhere in kids’ rooms and nurseries. The Wall Street Journal says owls appeal to marketers and parents because they’re gender neutral. And from a design standpoint - with only a few lines - owls are easy to create. The next big thing for kids’ rooms? It could be the hedgehog, polar bear or the fox.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA.) wants Transportation Security Agents to be a little more courteous. The Daily News says Connolly wants TSA screeners to say please and thank you - or he’ll draft legislation that would require them to do so. Connolly says on a recent trip he counted 20 orders from TSA agents - none came with a please or thank you.

The Detroit Free Press’ Tom Walsh says he was awed by the futuristic technology on display at the Detroit Auto Show. Super Cruise Control might be our first realistic automated driving system - in place by 2020. But even with all these high-tech advances, car makers are still mindful of the low-tech features, like the all-important cup holder.

The New York Times says Pope Francis has reshaped the Vatican in the first year of his papacy, taking on the bureaucracy that some believe led to the historic resignation of his predecessor. Despite his humble touch, Francis has made bold moves to change up the power structure of the Vatican. The Times says in some respects, he’s just bringing in his own team. But he’s also looking to change the culture of church leadership and is “upending the career ladder that many prelates have spent their lives climbing.”

The Washington Post says young adults so far account for less than one-fourth of the new signups during the first three months that exchanges have been open under the Affordable Care Act. Analysts have said that for the economics of the health care act to work, young people need to account for roughly 40 percent of those signing up for insurance.

Google is getting into the home automation business. The Internet giant is acquiring Nest Labs - which makes smarthome devices like cutting-edge smoke detectors and “self-learning” thermostats. The San Jose Mercury News says Google has dabbled in home automation software before, but in acquiring Nest, it is getting a company whose products are already popular.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jennifer Alsever tested out four methods for clearing your mind before bedtime to help you fall asleep faster. The Brainwave Music System CD set worked well as did an iPhone App called the ABCs of Better Sleep. A custom track by a relaxation coach helped Alsever fall asleep in 10 minutes. But she said the SleepEasily MP3 package was a bit of a miss.

The Daily News says the Golden Globes helped confirm Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels is atop the television universe. Michaels saw his alumni dominate the Globes, from hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (who won a Best Actress award for Parks and Recreation) to Andy Samberg who got an unexpected win for Best Actor in a comedy for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Michaels will also oversee the revamped Tonight Show when Jimmy Fallon takes over next month.

Superman and Ironman were the superheroes of 2013. 2014, USA Today says, will be the year of The Flash. The Flash comic books will get a new creative team in April. And a pilot is being done for a potential Flash spinoff of the CW’s “Arrow.” One of the writers for the Flash says what makes the character so appealing is the simplicity of his power, going fast.

It’s cold season - and flu season - and it’s not always easy to tell which illness is which. USA Today says the flu tends to come on faster and it hits harder with fever, aches and chills. Antiviral medications can be prescribed to treat the flu, but they work best if taken within 48 hours.

Bill Keller writes an Op-Ed in the New York Times about one woman’s very public battle against cancer. Lisa Adams has tweeted about her condition more than 165,000 times. She is, Keller says, a warrior doing battle against the disease. But Keller says praise is also due to those who choose to forgo aggressive treatments so they may go gently. Keller’s wife was criticized for her take on Adams’ case in the Guardian.

A new test for those 50 and over can help identify signs of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the 15-minute test can be taken anywhere and may be less intimidating that a test performed at a doctor’s office. Experts say one of the big problems with dementia is that it’s often diagnosed too late.

Have a Bentley and need a loan? You’re in luck. The New York Times says Suttons & Robertsons, an English pawnbroker, is preparing to open its first New York location. The shop caters to high-end clients who need quick access to cash in exchange for luxury items. Suttons & Robertsons says it’s able to lend upwards of $1 million to clients.

Sometime this year, the first space tourism flight will take place aboard Richard Branson’s SpaceShip Two. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides spoke with the Orange County Register about how it will work. The ride will cost you $250,000. You’ll fly 50 miles above Earth where you’ll be able to see the curvature of the Earth and experience weightlessness.

Ashley Wagner has been named to the U.S. Olympic team, on the heels of one of her worst performances in years at the U.S. championships. The selection committee has the option of looking at a skater’s entire body of work over the past year, which is why they chose Wagner over Mirai Nagasu, whose bronze medal performance ordinarily would have guaranteed her a spot on the Olympic team. It’s only the third time a medalist at the U.S. Championships was left off the Olympic squad.

Ford is introducing its new aluminum body F-150 at this week’s Detroit Auto Show. The Detroit Free Press say the lighter truck promises to be the most fuel-efficient full-sized pickup on the road. But it will cost about $1000 more per vehicle to produce. Ford is promising to pick up that cost, making it a risk for the automaker.

Disney’s animated musical Frozen just keeps on surprising. It passed The Lion King over the weekend to become the highest grossing Disney-produced animated film of all time, and just last night it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. The Wall Street Journal says Frozen’s success marks a renaissance for Disney Animation, which had been in the shadow of its sibling studio, Pixar.

The New York Post’s Michael Goodwin says Governor Chris Christie put on a master class for dealing with a crisis with his nearly two-hour long news conference over the bridge lane scandal. That is, unless he was lying when he said he had no idea what was going on. If he was being honest, Goodwin says, Christie may even gain some new followers based on his performance.

After seeing 2010 Olympic freestyle aerial skiing in 2010, then 17-year-old Kendal Johnson fired off an email to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association telling them he would be the greatest aerialist ever, if given the chance. This despite never having been on skis.  The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says now four years later, Johnson has a shot at making the U.S. Olympic squad, in part because someone read his email and told him to send in a video. VIDEO

New rules meant to prevent another widespread mortgage crisis take effect today. The Washington Post says a new category of “qualified mortgages” will limit upfront fees and forbid no-interest periods that can lure in unqualified buyers. In exchange, lenders are protected from lawsuits by borrowers. Experts say the changes will help ensure buyers can afford their homes.

In this day and age when we can watch almost anything at any time - people are still longing for the shared viewing experience. The New York Times asked readers about how they go about “synchronized viewing,” that is, watching something at the same time as a friend who is somewhere else. For their weekly movie nights, one couple, split between Barcelona and Mexico City, used “more technological firepower than was required for the first moon landing: two laptops, two iPhones, iTunes, Skype and FaceTime.”

American Idol is no longer the ratings bonanza it once was. But with another season right around the corner, the show has made some changes it hopes will lure old viewers back. The show’s producers are promising better chemistry from the panel of judges, which this year includes Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. Gone are the oft-dueling Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.

With many newbies hitting the gym, the New York Post has a great selection of fashion dos and don’ts for all kinds of workout scenarios from yoga and weightlifting to spinning and Crossfit. Don’t wear your Tour de France gear to spin class - and make sure you’re not revealing too much in your downward dog pose at yoga class.

In his quest to find a kidney donor, a Minnesota man sculpted a kidney out of snow in his front yard. It might have worked. The St. Paul Pioneer-Press says a neighbor who lives a few blocks from the man has come forward as a potential donor. If he’s found to be a match, the neighbor’s kidney will be transplanted.

Now that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s aides have been implicated in closing down bridge lanes to punish a local mayor, The Bergen Record columnist Charles Stile says Christie’s 2016 Presidential hopes could be damaged. If he’s found to have ordered the closings, it paints him as a partisan bully. But if he was unaware of what was going on, it damages Christie’s reputation for managerial competency.

The Wall Street Journal ranks the nation’s airlines after a year where on-time arrivals dropped to 78% from 80% in 2012. Of the major US carriers, Alaska Airlines ranked first overall, and first in on-time arrivals. United brought up the rear with poor scores for cancelled flights, lost baggage, and bumped passengers.

T-Mobile is making another bold move to gain customers. The company announced it will cover the termination fees for new customers who leave their carrier. The New York Times says the offer removes one of the biggest barriers that customers had for switching to T-Mobile.

After seeing some obscure people with their own Wikipedia pages, New York Times writer Judith Newman set out to get her own entry in the online encyclopedia. What she discovers is that there IS a limit to what shows up in Wikipedia. Newman also uncovers the underbelly of Wikipedia, from Wikipedia Whisperers to sock puppets.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune explores the new trend of quick workouts, some as short as 4 minutes a day, to find out if they really work. The theory is that ultra-intense workouts produce the same results as longer bouts of exercise. But experts caution that high intensity workouts are too much for most people. And those looking to lose weight do better with longer, lower intensity routines.

The backlash against trans fats has led to a resurgence for the once-maligned stick of butter. The Los Angeles Times says butter consumption in the U.S. is at a 40-year high. Butter’s comeback is also due in part to a better understanding of the health issues associated with butter alternatives.

The New York Times offers a selection of 20 wines for $20 that offer “value and intrigue.” More obscure wines tend to offer better value, since there’s not as much demand. Eric Asimov says that while you can find plenty of interesting wines for $10, the number of “fascinating” bottles rises exponentially in the $15 to $25 range.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates pulled no punches in his new memoir - criticizing President Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the war in Afghanistan. In “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” Gates writes that Obama was skeptical if not outright convinced the troop surge in Afghanistan would fail. In the Washington Post, Bob Woodward says that’s one of the most serious charges a Defense Secretary can make against a Commander-in-Chief.

Did you hear something? Car makers hope the answer is no. The Wall Street Journal says the auto industry is going to great lengths to quiet your ride. They’ve done such a good job of quieting engines and road noise that drivers now hear all sorts of interior sounds which in some cases lead them to believe there’s a problem when there really isn’t one.

With Lindsey Vonn announcing she’ll miss next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, the American contingent lost its most visible star. The Washington Post says snowboarder Shaun White is arguably the next most popular U.S. Olympian. Other stars, such as Apolo Anton Ohno, have retired. NBC executives say there’s still plenty to watch, noting that Vonn only accounted for 2 of Team USA’s 37 medals in Vancouver.

USA Today says today’s teens need to get moving. Only one in four kids ages 12 to 15 gets the recommended hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. The numbers are significant because research shows the physical activity habits of children often continue into adulthood.

The New York Times writes an obituary for the much-debated Bowl Championship Series, which came to an end with Florida State’s comeback win over Auburn Monday night. Next year college football’s national champion will be decided by a playoff among the top four teams. The Times says the main cause of death was money, as there was more to be made in a playoff system.

The Polar Vortex that’s gripped much of the country presents a challenge to forecasters: How do you describe how ridiculously cold it is? The Washington Post spoke with forecasters in some of the coldest places in the U.S. who say they favor words like “extreme” and “intense” because a term like “frigid” isn’t quite enough. One forecaster joked that he couldn’t say how cold it was because of FCC rules.

A new study finds good looking CEOs are better for a company’s bottom line. Andrew Ross Sorkin writes about the study in the New York Times. It found investors value companies higher if they’re run by attractive chief executives and those CEOs get paid more than their less-attractive counterparts. Better looking executives are also better at making successful deals.

AT&T is now allowing companies to subsidize the cost of using their services on smartphones and tablets - sort of like a 1-800 number - but for data. The hope is that companies like Google or Netflix will use the setup to promote their products without having the data count against a user’s plan. Customers would see a logo alerting them to the fact that the content they’re accessing won’t use up any of their data plan.

There’s an essay in the New York Times from a doctor who admits to Googling his patients. Dr. Haider Warraich says learning more about his patients can help build empathy. It can also expose fraud, like the patient who wanted a double mastectomy but was discovered to have been collecting donations to help treat cancers she’d never had. But Dr. Warraich admits it’s a tricky ethical balance.

The Wall Street Journal has advice on how long you should keep your makeup to make sure you’re not spreading germs. Replace mascara and liquid eyeliner every three months. Your lipstick can last up to a year, as long as you clean the top layer with alcohol after any illness. And you’ll want to wash your makeup brushes once a month, using baby shampoo.

New Jersey lawmakers have introduced five new bills in the state legislature aimed at stopping the so-called “knockout game.” But the Bergen Record says law enforcement officials have no proof that the “knockout game” is a trend in the state. Some lawmakers say they are sponsoring legislation as a deterrent.

The Wall Street Journal says car makers are using this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to tout their strategies for equipping cars with 4G high-speed broadband. That would allow a variety of services, from streaming video to online troubleshooting of car problems. Safety regulators are keeping a close eye on the auto makers to ensure that new technology systems don’t add to driver distractions.

The Orange County Register says more and more hotels are pulling out their mini-bars. Despite the high prices of their items, hotel mini-bars were never big money makers due to the high cost of restocking and chronic theft. The paper says travelers these days care more about in-room Wi-Fi service and other amenities than they do having easy access to overpriced bottles of booze.

The New York Times say for all their celebration of history, colleges and sports teams seem to be pretty fond of editing out the rough patches. From Reggie Bush’s Hesiman Trophy to Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France titles, the record books get editing quite often. The paper says controversial figures get erased Soviet-style to preserve an institution’s image or to comply with league sanctions.

You won’t find Danville, Florida on a map. But it has its own Irish pub, City Hall, movie theater and bed-and-breakfast. And it’s built inside an airplane hangar. The Orlando Sun-Sentinel introduces us to Dan Shaw, the “Mayor” of Danville. He says he came up with the idea when he decided to build an airplane hangar that would also serve as a guest house for his flying buddies. VIDEO

As pay phones fade into obscurity, the Houston Chronicle looks at the history of one particular payphone. It once was a hub for the whole neighborhood, serving customers from a nearby bar that has since been replaced by condos. It’s been used more than 60,000 times, but now it’s used for just 1.5 calls a day. The company that owns it says there’s still money to be made in pay phones.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says the country’s most prominent horticulturists are in fear for the future of the industry. Horticulture, the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables and flowers, is facing a shortage of skilled professionals. And that doesn’t bode well for the many fields that rely on horticulturists such as food production, climate science study and biofuel research.

One New Jersey hospital is making life a little easier for parents of premature babies, by installing streaming video cameras in the NICU that allow parents to look in on their babies from anywhere. The Newark Star-Ledger says the cameras have been a huge hit with parents who are often trying to balance seeing their babies with work and other family duties.