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The great love of my life marries today and I am not the groom. I had my chance, a few years ago, but did not realize until too late how fleeting my moment with her was meant to be. Whether it was my fault or hers, and, let's face it, it was probably mine, I will wonder always about the life I might have had with the most loving and loveable woman I have ever known. Sometimes, I finally now understand, love, even crazy love, is not enough. Sometimes, as the romance novelists know, timing is everything. But today is...

California law enforcement officials say well-known Christian painter and artist Thomas Kinkade spent a night in jail last week after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. California Highway Patrol officials said Monday that Kinkade was pulled over outside Carmel and arrested by a CHP officer just after 10 p.m. Friday Kinkade "displayed signs of impairment to the officer," California Highway Patrol spokesman Robert Lehman reported. The 52-year-old painter and father of four was released Saturday morning after posting bail. Requests for a statement from the Thomas Kinkade Co. were not immediately responded to, though The Associated Press...

The FBI is investigating allegations that self-styled "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade and some of his top executives fraudulently induced investors to open galleries and then ruined them financially, former dealers contacted by federal agents said. Investigators are focusing on issues raised in civil litigation by at least six former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners, people who have been contacted by the FBI said. ADVERTISEMENTThe ex-owners allege in arbitration claims that, among other things, the artist known for his dreamily luminous landscapes and street scenes used his Christian faith to persuade them to invest in the independently owned stores, which...

The painter of light is having a dark period. Thomas Kinkade, the Placerville native who became one of the world's wealthiest artists with his sentimental landscapes and Christian motifs, has had a string of legal troubles. His company owes millions of dollars to art gallery owners who successfully pressed fraud claims. Earlier this month the firm filed for bankruptcy protection from those gallery owners and hundreds of other creditors. And on Friday, the 52-year-old Kinkade, who calls himself "the painter of light," was arrested on a DUI charge outside Carmel, where he owns a home.

NEW YORK "The Family Circus" reached its 45th anniversary today. Or maybe it will reach its 45th anniversary tomorrow. That's because the comic panel started on a leap-year day -- Feb. 29, 1960. Bil Keane created "The Family Circus," and now does it with his son, Jeff Keane, for more than 1,500 newspapers via King Features Syndicate.

America's top cop has been demonized and lionized. He's a complex guy all right, just not the guy everyone thinks he is The small Cessna Citation was just over Grand Rapids, Mich., when the secure phone rang. Attorney General John Ashcroft listened intently, interrupting the caller repeatedly. After hanging up, he turned to his small staff. "The world," he said, "has changed forever." The change wreaked by the September 11 terrorist attacks was greater for Ashcroft than for any other member of President Bush's cabinet. Donald Rumsfeld would have to torque the Pentagon bureaucracy in radically different ways to fight...