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Michelle Obama, DC public schoolchildren help with 2nd major harvest of White House garden

White House Garden goes through 2nd major harvest

Explore one of America’s first planned cities: Savannah, with historic squares and homes

Explore Savannah’s historic squares, parks, homes

Fla. insurer flip-flops, to renew homeowners policy for house built with bad Chinese drywall

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida’s public insurance company reversed course this week and said it will cover a couple’s Gulf Coast retirement home, after previously telling the homeowners their policy wouldn’t be renewed because of the home’s tainted Chinese drywall.

Amid housing crunch, Cuba cracks downs on illegal home remodels, streamlines building permits

HAVANA — Cuba has quietly made it easier to obtain state permission to build or remodel homes even as it pledges to crack down like never before on unlicensed residential construction, including routine do-it-yourself projects.

Britain’s lawmakers face demands to repay disputed expense claims amid fresh finance row

LONDON — First it cost their reputations. Now it’ll cost them cash.

British climate-change protesters stage rooftop Parliament protest

LONDON — Several dozen environmental activists scaled Britain’s Parliament building Sunday to draw attention to climate change.

House that could float on New Orleans’ floods brought to site of Brad Pitt’s rebuilding effort

NEW ORLEANS — A house capable of floating atop rising floodwaters made its debut Tuesday in New Orleans alongside more than a dozen other homes built through actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation.

Just call him Rudolph: Mule deer wanders Montana with Christmas lights dangling from antlers

HELENA, Mont. — Call it a case of Christmas creep. A young mule deer in Montana is ushering in the holiday season early.

Chef Spike’s Michelle Melt: new DC burger has first lady’s name on it and turkey in the bun

WASHINGTON — There’s a new burger in town, and it’s got Michelle Obama’s name on it.

US diplomat criticizes 9/11 policy of building ‘fortress-like’ embassies

WARSAW, Poland — The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Poland criticized the “fortress-like” feel of American embassies built since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, saying Thursday that some are excessively expensive and send an unfriendly message to non-Americans.

Farmers plant tillage radishes to nourish, soften up fields; chance to cut fertilizer use

ANNA, Ohio — White radishes are taking root on Tony Luthman’s farm, the start of what he hopes will create a welcome mat for the corn he plants in the spring.

Urban farmers, gardeners in northern US use hoop houses to extend growing season

FLINT, Mich. — On the vacant lot in Michigan where her childhood home once stood, Carolyn Meekins grows seedlings for Asian greens, red kale and green beans in a plastic-covered greenhouse known as a hoop house.

Vegas luxury suites: From a basketball court in your room to TV in the mirrors

LAS VEGAS — A 10,000-square-foot suite that includes a basketball halfcourt rents for $25,000 a night at Palms Casino Resort. At MGM Grand’s Skylofts, you’ll find a bathtub that fizzes with tiny champagne-like massage bubbles, TVs in the mirrors and airport pickup in a $400,000 car.

Thousands living in flooded homes in West Africa after torrential rains

FASS MBAO, Senegal — The only piece of furniture that survived the most recent flood in Fat Dione’s house is her bed. It’s propped up on cinderblocks and hovers just above the water lapping at the walls of her bedroom.

Neighbors: Wells Fargo exec. moved into beach home surrendered to bank by Madoff-duped couple

MALIBU, Calif. — A Wells Fargo & Co. executive who oversees foreclosed properties hosted parties and spent long summer weekends in a $12 million Malibu beach house, moving into the home just after it had been surrendered to Wells Fargo to satisfy debts, neighbors said.

Indian farmers discrimination lawsuit still unsettled after a decade

BISMARCK, N.D. — Fort Berthold Reservation rancher Pete Fredericks says he still hasn’t recovered from a brutal winter nearly 30 years ago that wiped out half his black Angus herd. White ranchers in the region fared better because they got financial help from the federal government, he says.

Beverly Hills home designed for comedian Groucho Marx on market for nearly $13 million

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A Beverly Hills house owned for two decades by Groucho Marx is on the market for $12.9 million.

China completes renovation of Tibet’s Potala Palace, once home to the Dalai Lamas

BEIJING — China has completed a seven-year renovation of Tibet’s Potala Palace — home to the Dalai Lamas until the region’s current spiritual leader fled during an aborted uprising against Communist rule 50 years ago.

As cigarette prices climb, smokers turn to green thumbs and gardens for tobacco

RICHMOND, Va. — Something unusual is cropping up alongside the tomatoes, eggplant and okra in Scott Byars’ vegetable garden — the elephantine leaves of 30 tobacco plants.

Construction of US homes rises in July, giving the economy a boost

WASHINGTON — At least the market for new homes isn’t getting worse anymore, and that’s the first step to getting better.

Construction of US homes rises in July, but apartment building drops 13 percent

WASHINGTON — Construction of new single-family homes rose for the fifth-straight month in July as more buyers walked into model homes ready to sign contracts, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Home improvement stocks slip after Lowe’s posts lower 2Q profit, scales back expansion

NEW YORK — Shares of home improvement stocks declined on Monday after Lowe’s Cos. posted a 19 percent lower second-quarter profit and said it will curtail expansion plans.