NEW YORK The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a leading intellectual of the Christian right who helped build a new coalition of conservative Protestants and Roman Catholics, and informally advised President George W. Bush, died Thursday. He was 72.

LAS VEGAS The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas is developing a plan to add religious schools to the region, shifting focus from adding churches as local growth slows.

WAXAHACHIE, Texas Moments after flying headfirst onto the arena floor dirt, the man gets up and brushes off his protective vest as rodeo clowns rush in to distract the still-bucking bull.

RALEIGH, N.C. Salman Sheikh was organizing a swim class for his two sons last summer when fellow Muslim parents approached him about starting a class for girls.

OAKLAND, Calif. The tales flow from Lloyd Coley at a near-constant pace.

Voices of faith: Can a society not believe in God and yet be law-abiding and peaceful?

"Confession is good for the soul," says a Scottish proverb from the mid-1600s. Most religions would agree. Verses from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran speak of the importance of confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness from a God who is merciful.

Dear Mr. Dad: My 3-year-old son prefers his mom over me! I work full time and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. How can I get him to spend time with me without feeling that I'm competing with Mom?

This past year was the year when our family, like so many others, decided to cut back on Christmas.

Q: Is it true that a person can own a home and still be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits?

New Year's Day in Pasadena, Calif., offered America a picture postcard of a bright and shiny future.

While checking out at a drugstore, I saw candy bars in a basket with a handmade sign that read, "SALE - 2 for $1." Underneath that it said, "Reg. 50 cents." Things like that tend to get me excited, which is a good thing, I now learn.

Q: While in college I dated my second cousin. We were together for years, but he got involved with the wrong crowd and went to prison. We broke up two years ago and now I'm marrying my soul mate. My divorced parents are splitting the cost of the wedding. My cousin is related to my dad, who wants to invite my ex. I feel uncomfortable about having an ex-boyfriend at my wedding. My father is adamant and it is causing huge problems. Any advice?

Q: For the last month our 31-month-old son has started waking up around 3 a.m., wide awake. After finally getting him back to sleep he wakes up for good at 6:30. Before this started he slept through the night until 7-7:30. His afternoon nap is now a good half hour shorter as well. I think he's over-tired, and this is why he is waking up during the night. Consequently, I think he needs to go to bed earlier. My dear husband thinks the opposite and wants to make his bed time later. Please tell us, who's right?

SAN FRANCISCO The state's high court ruled Monday that three Southern California parishes that left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of gay ministers cannot retain ownership of their church buildings and property.

DETROIT The new spiritual leader of the Detroit area's 1.4 million Roman Catholics is a Michigan native who is invoking a city slogan about hope as he takes charge of a region tangled in economic woes.

Have a happy period! Those words stared at me from the pamphlet my 11-year-old daughter had just handed me. Mocking me. Filling me with dread and angst. My daughter had just experienced the joy, the unbridled excitement that was "The Talk" in school. It had gone well, in part because she already knew the information - after all, she's heard it since birth AND she shares a bedroom with a teenage sister, so there's nothing sacred there. The most traumatic part of the entire discussion was the fact that A BOY walked in while the teacher was saying one of the WORDS, Mom!

As annoying companions go, it could have been much worse than Elmo. It could have been Barney, whose "need adenoid surgery" voice drove me nuts long before I had kids.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - It was Matthew Shumaker's strange obsession with wheels and drains that spurred the first nagging doubts. While other toddlers tumbled down the padded ramps at Gymboree, or giggled under a billowing parachute during the baby games, Matthew toddled away to examine the wheels on a small rolling cart.

With my daughter I was the uber-mom - maybe even slightly overbearing. I could anticipate her crying before she even began to whimper - I sat with her for hours and poured over alphabet books reading and quizzing her and stockpiled every Disney princess fairy tale movie available and watched them with her religiously.