Dentists are cautioning parents that children should give up their pacifiers by the time they're 3 years old.

The timing varies, but it's generally 2-1/2 to 3, according to Maumee, Ohio, pediatric dentists Stephen Pero and Michael Glinka, who have been in practice together for more than 36 years.

Does your doctor talk to you about money?

Chances are, he or she does not. But it is a lost skill of medicine that many providers are finding they need.

Increasingly, patients are finding they need to know how much a particular diagnostic test or prescription or procedure will cost because some or all of the expense will come out of their own pockets.

OWATONNA, Minn. - Minnesota Vikings owner and President Mark Wilf said Tuesday the franchise has received the boost it was looking for when it signed Brett Favre and made it clear the veteran quarterback would be welcomed back in 2010 to play the second season of the two-year, $25 million deal he received in August.

Desert tortoise populations in the Mojave Desert continue to decline, despite years of study and protection since the reptile was designated a threatened species in 1990, experts say.

Researchers say observations support a gloomy view of the animals' status.

Here are some great new children's books by previous winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals:

-- Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry has just published her first picture book, "Crow Call" (Scholastic, $16.99). Based on a memory from Lowry's childhood, "Crow Call" tells the story of a special day that a young girl named Liz spends with her father, just back from World War II.

A YouTube video of eight young men terrorizing bicyclists and pedestrians -- including children and older people -- in what appear to be the twin Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul has triggered a police investigation.

When a military officer participates in a war against his own country, that is high treason, and that is the charge that ought to be brought against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. But it's not going to happen.