The North American Aerospace Defense Command keeps an eye on Saint Nick's progress from an Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. NORAD volunteers in elf hats fielded more than 100,000 calls from kids checking on Santa.

The VA hospital in Milwaukee is shortening its residential mental health treatment programs. Doctors there say the shortened stay — from 90 to 45 days — will mean more intense treatment and will make it easier for veterans to transition back into society sooner. Some patients worry about being pushed out too soon.

Perhaps more than any other major professional sports league in this country, the National Basketball Association is star-driven. A Christmas slate of season-opening games featured the electric play of the league's Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, the NBA's top scorer Kevin Durant and LeBron James, too.

More than half of the long-term unemployed and under-employed have had to borrow money from family and friends to pay their bills, according to a recent NPR News-Kaiser Family Foundation poll. And borrowing from friends and family can complicate the relationships.

As millions of Americans continue to search for work, new research shows their physical behavior, emotions and finances change the longer an individual is out of work. Career counselors say the longer someone is jobless, the more side effects they will likely suffer from — like depression and families breaking up.

The Iowa caucuses are a little more than a week away. But the GOP presidential candidates dialed back the intensity of their TV ads over the weekend. Instead, many ads featured gentler messages — many of which showcased the candidates' wives.

In Gretna, Fla., a casino's plan to turn barrel racing into a betting proposition has run into opposition from quarter horse breeders and trainers, who say the new event could destroy their industry.

Air travel horror stories typically involve lost luggage or missed connections. But families affected by autism face other challenges in navigating airports and planes. A program in Philadelphia is bringing families, airport employees and airlines together to help autistic kids fly more comfortably.