Best 2012 family cars under $25,000

Let’s say you are looking for a compact family sedan for under $25,000.

For years, the low end cars in domestic and foreign automotive fleets were little more than basic transportation: bells and whistles cost a lot more. Still, there is nothing wrong with wishing that you could get a small family car which wasn’t boring to look at, was comfortable to sit in, had enough gadgets to keep everyone happy and, if you floored the gas pedal, actually took off.

For many motorists, that was the turf of the Honda Civic, long the entry level workhorse of the popular Honda line. They were short on flair and long on utility, but consistently reliable, efficient, durable and, with an EPA rating of 41 miles per gallon in highway driving, easy on the pocketbook. What they provide, however, is basic transportation: the Civic is not a balm for the ego or a rolling sculpture destined to grace the driveway.

And if you are willing to get the basic, no-frills version, you can roll out of a Honda showroom with a Civic HF for under $20,000. But the Civic is actually a family of compacts, from the no-frills, HF box to the competitive $25,000 EX sedan.

The bare bones version of the Civic HF has plain cloth seats, but they are wide, manually adjusted. The dashboard is contoured, to give it a little character. And the dials, in blue and white, are easy on the eyes with digits easy to read. The doors had mostly hard, molded plastic with a thin layer of padding where the elbow rests and, as a result, were not very comfortable on long trips. Surprisingly, the car lacked Bluetooth communication, but it did have a single disc CD player, and connections for MP3, iPod, and USB. Its four-speaker, 160-watt sound system was adequate for the small interior, but nothing special. There is room in the rear for a couple of average sized adults, but the only cup holders are in the front. But the HF is intended to be just basic transportation.

For about $5,000 more, the Civic can be upgraded to the EX model, which better reflects the quality of the Honda line. At that price, the cloth gives way to thick, padded leather seats which are power adjustable and heated. Overhead is a power sunroof, which gives the compact a feeling of spaciousness. And the bare bones entertainment system is replaced by a navigation system, satellite radio, and Bluetooth. At that point, the Civic is a car one can look forward to owning for several years.

Under the hood, the Civic HF has a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine producing just 140 horsepower. Thus the small car is fine on the road, but sluggish when you take off or need to accelerate. That small engine, however, is why the Civic has an EPA rating of 29 miles per gallon in city driving and 41 MPG on the highway. And on the open road, the Civic HF handle with the assuredness expected of a Honda in any price range.

I awakened to find there were five inches of loose, powdery snow one Saturday morning, and the stuff was destined to fall intermittently all day. The main roads were kept relatively clear by municipal plows, but home owners on most of the side streets had to fend for themselves in the slippery stuff. This was no problem for the Civic.

The compact, with its all weather tires, had no trouble on hills, curves and uneven surfaces though more expensive vehicles were skidding that morning through the same slippery terrain. The Civic’s snow-oriented traction control compensated for the bad road conditions – which showed that not all safety technology is saved for the expensive players. With the Civic family, Honda is trying to get a lock on the low end of the compact sedan market.

We don't want to worry you, but ...

Cholesterol levels, toxins in food, low-carb vs. low-fat -- as if there weren't already enough health issues to worry about! We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but here are a couple more, particularly prevalent in winter, that may not have crossed your radar yet.

Sitting. A new line of research suggests that just sitting there for long periods endangers your health -- even if you also exercise regularly.

"The person who exercises an hour a day might be better suited to run a 5K, but the person who's been standing and up and around all day may actually be healthier," said Mark Blegen, an associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at St. Catherine University.

When you're sedentary, researchers have found, your metabolism plunges, increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes.

What if you have a desk job? One option is to follow Blegen's example: he has used a stand-up desk for two years. Standing for meetings and while talking to students requires "a little bit of a cultural shift," he acknowledged. If you're not ready for that, make a point of taking regular breaks to get up and walk around. While at your desk, maintain good posture, which Blegen said activates more muscles than slouching. And if you watch TV at home, don't just sit there, do something -- stand, exercise, fold laundry.

Shoveling. Minnesotans are practically hardwired to believe in the physical fitness benefits of shoveling snow. Surely venturing out into the cold and doing all that work must be good for us. Otherwise, wouldn't we just use a snowblower?

Indeed, shoveling can provide a great workout, Blegen said. But if you're not in shape, the unfamiliar weight-lifting can leave you with sore muscles. Worse, sudden heavy exertion, combined with the cold's constricting effect on blood vessels, can stress the heart. A 1993 study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested an increased risk of heart attack while shoveling -- albeit a very small one.

The main problem is that people tend to hold their breath to stabilize themselves while they lift the filled shovel, Blegen said. "That can cause your blood pressure to skyrocket and can potentially be very dangerous," he said.

So go ahead, work those deltoids and burn some calories while clearing the driveway. But warm up gradually and don't overdo it. Most importantly, don't forget to breathe.

As cold and flu season begins, you can guard against germs

As the days shorten toward winter, sniffles and sore throats return. Noses start dripping, and all too soon you’ve got aches and pains, fever and malaise. And so do your kids, or your colleagues, or your friends.

This is the onset of cold and flu season, when germs travel easily from person to person as we spend more time close together indoors. And everything can be a good breeding ground for germs: computer keyboards, the knob on the door into your office, the telephone you use, the subway seat where someone coughs behind you, the escalator railing, the shopping cart handle.

Germs get spread by hand-to-hand contact, by touching a contaminated surface or by being spewed through the air in droplets as someone sneezes, coughs or talks. On average adults get about two to four colds a year, children about six to 10, mostly in the fall and winter months. And every year 5 to 20 percent of the population comes down with the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with about 200,000 people getting sick enough to be hospitalized.

“The difference between the common cold and flu is the severity of fever,” said Jeff Dimond, a spokesman for the CDC. “The flu is usually accompanied with fever, aches and pains, and congestion in the lungs. A cold is more in your head. Both are contagious,” often before symptoms even show up.

Colds linger for a week to 10 days. The flu is shorter but carries a bigger wallop. It tends to clear up after two to five days, but sufferers may feel drained and exhausted for another week.

Want to avoid all this?

Here are a few simple tips for staying healthy this season from the experts (CDC, doctors, infectious-disease researchers).

The No. 1 preventive measure for killing germs is washing hands, said Dimond.

“If you think about where you put your hands, you wipe your nose then touch the elevator,” Dimond said. “A virus can last for six hours on those elevator buttons. If you have bowls of nuts or M&Ms out and everybody is dipping their hands into it, germs get passed around.”

Not very appetizing? The CDC recommends washing hands, both tops and palms, for about 20 seconds with soap, then rinsing. Wash before eating and preparing food. Wash after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, changing a diaper and caring for a sick person, to name a few common situations.

If washing your hands with soap is not doable, slather on hand sanitizer, Dimond said. “Part of working here at the CDC [in Atlanta], we are highly aware of hand hygiene,” he said. “At every floor there is a hand sanitizer and a big sign at the front door to wash hands.”

Secretions from your nose are often clear in the beginning of a cold and thicken as the cold progresses, said Ann Rixinger, an infectious-disease specialist in Annandale. “But be careful not to wipe your eyes, as germs can go into tear ducts and then get in the lymphatic system,” she said. “We will assume no one picks their nose. For little kids we have to teach good hygiene, using tissues and keep extra containers of Purell around.”

Boston Weather Won't Bother Manuel

Florida State junior quarterback E.J. Manuel answered questions from members of the media Monday for about 15 minutes at his weekly press conference before the Seminoles took to the practice field, and here are some of the more noteworthy things he had to say during that time:Manuel isn't worried about possibly playing in cold and windy weather in the Boston area since he grew up in Virginia Beach and should be quite used to it, plus the forecast doesn't look too bad ahead of Thursday's game at Boston College. ...

Because of the abbreviated five-day turnaround, Florida State actually practiced Sunday instead of having the day off to rest. According to Manuel, he said he felt rather good and wasn't very sore. If anything, the work allowed him to get rid of the lactic acid players tend to feel a day or two after playing a big game. ...

Freshman receiver Rashad Greene did participate in Sunday's practice, and he might be available for the Boston College game. Manuel suggested Greene is going to play, as he did Saturday when talking to reporters right after the 34-0 shutout of NC State. ...

Manuel said he appreciates the firepower he has at his disposal, be it at receiver, tight end or running back, and even though guys are telling him in the huddle they're open, it isn't a selfish bunch and they're happy for each other when they do well. ...

Running the option was again a topic of conversation, as Manuel has proven to have a very instinctive feel for that play the last few weeks. Most importantly, he wants to make sure his tailback stays in good position for the pitch, even if he's already 20 yards downfield. The 6-5, 245-pounder has shown already that he isn't afraid to be extra aggressive on the pitch and will give up his body if necessary. ...

When asked about the critical comments Jack Nicklaus made in the booth during the game, intimating that the Seminoles aren't doing a good enough job getting the ball to his grandson, freshman tight end Nick O'Leary, Manuel simply laughed it off and said he didn't want to have a legend on his bad side. ...

When it comes to breaking down tape, Manuel said he tends to focus on the other team's defensive backs. They'll give him the best indication of where to go with the ball on a given play. ...

Manuel was complimentary of his interior offensive linemen when asked about them, especially junior left guard Jacob Fahrenkrug. ...

Despite the fact that he still considers himself a jokester that likes to have fun, Manuel understands that he's expected to be a leader on this team -- THE leader, as a matter of fact. He believes that all of his teammates like him, and he likes all of his teammates. Definitely, he sees himself as a great teammate. ...

Because he and NC State quarterback Mike Glennon are friends, the two of them had a short conversation after Saturday's contest. Glennon said he didn't understand just how good FSU's defense can be. On top of that, Manuel thinks the depth and talent he faces in practice from the 'Noles along the defensive line can only make the offense better as a result.

Zap cold sores in the bud

Cold sores are small, painful, fluid-filled blisters or sores that appear on the lips, mouth or nose that are caused by a virus. They're ugly. They're painful. And they often hang around for days.

There are lots of remedies, medications and creams for these Herpes Simplex infections. And there are steps you can take to avoid them, like taking food supplements, changing toothbrushes or exercising.

But there's a new weapon that nips the problem in the bud ... or more correctly, zaps it in the bud.

Today, you can zap those cold sores, canker sores or herpetic viruses and aphthous ulcers with dental lasers.

The treatment takes a couple of minutes and is free of charge at Family 1st Dental in Sioux City, South Sioux City and other 1st Dental offices for patients of record, says Dr. Doug Barr of 1st Dental's South Sioux City office. The patients call, come in and get their cold sores zapped. They're in and out in five minutes.

"TIme is of no consequence for us. Bang! Bang!" Barr said.

The key is taking action before you have a full-blown cold sore.

"So if a patient feels like they are getting a cold sore -- and the first symptoms are it feels kind of itchy and scratchy and it will start to blister just a little bit -- they can come in ," Barr said. "If they get ahold of us or any dentist that has a soft-tissue Diode laser, they can come in and that's the best time to treat it."

The treatment is much less effective if the cold sore gets full blown and starts to matriculate into a big lesion. Once it's matriculated, the treatment won't work.

"You just shine the light a millimeter or two from the surface of the lesion for 10 seconds at three different intensities of the laser, and it pretty much eradicates the virus," he said. "I won't say that it won't reappear at all. But if you've ever had a cold sore, it's so much less intense and heals so much faster that it's almost like you don't get one."

He stressed that there is no cutting involved. It is a non-invasive procedure where the light shines on the cold sores and it gets a ltitle warm for a few seconds, but the problem is eradicated.

The laser treatment also works on those big canker sores that can form in your mouth from eating too many tomatoes, he noted.

Patients spend no more than five minutes in the chair for this non-invasive procedure.

"You don't really touch the tissue or cut the tissue with anything. It's just light emission, and what it does is it kills that virus or bacteria when you're in the chair," Barr said. "And the likelihood of that virus coming back in that same area is almost zero."

It doesn't mean patients won't get more cold sores, only that the sores will be at different locations.

Debbie Beelner, a dental hygienist at 1st Dental in South Sioux City, said her 31-year-old daughter Jenney came in with a chronic cold sore problem that had been plaguing her going on five years. It was a horrific problem with the sores on her upper lip and in her nose.

"She was starting to get them like once a month. And the previous time I treated it was like in May. And now she just came in last September. That was the next time it occurred," Beelner said. "And it was smaller and in a different place, but kind of in that general area. So we treated her again. We hope it doesn't come back there again either."

Jessica Paulsen, a dental assistant in the office, gets regular treatments, too. "It's worked every time I've ever had one," she said.

The monochromatic light waves emitted by the laser are on the low end of the infrared spectrum, and all the waves are the same, Barr noted.

"It's a low-end infrared spectrum of light, high intensity, focused on one spot. And that's why it's a soft tissue, And the Diode means that it's got two beams of the same kind of light focused on one deal through a cord," he said.

Adenovirus may be cause of summer illnesses

Summer vacation wasn’t starting out quite like the family intended. Four kids, no school, blue skies — but one by one the siblings were coming down with fevers, and soon the whole gang was homebound.

One of the children came into the office to be examined. He appeared to be fighting off a virus and steadily improved on his own. When his 7-year-old sister stopped in a few days later with runny eyes, cough, sore throat and fever, mom really wanted her checked for strep throat to see if the other three might have something “treatable.” It was a reasonable request, so the brave little girl took one for the team and had her throat swabbed. Mom was soon relieved to hear that her daughter did not have strep.

Good news, bad news. The kids didn’t have strep so they did not need to take antibiotics to treat their sore throats. However, the family most likely had been hit with adenovirus, a common and very contagious virus that generally can’t be “fixed” with medication. Adenoviral illnesses tend to run their course and fade away after up to one week of mild to moderate misery.

Adenovirus is usually a presumptive diagnosis since it’s not typically tested for unless a patient is sick enough to require hospitalization. As with many other viral illnesses, outpatient treatment of adenovirus involves supportive care, with plenty of fluids, and pain and fever management to keep the patient hydrated and comfortable. Medical evaluation is indicated if new symptoms such as severe cough, prolonged fever or dehydration develop.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that there are more than 50 strains of adenovirus, a hearty virus that can live up to two weeks outside of the body. Adenovirus is best known for causing a variety of respiratory illnesses ranging in severity from mild cold symptoms and croup to bronchitis and pneumonia. Infants and immunocompromised individuals are at particular risk of severe disease complications.

Depending on the particular strain of virus, adenoviral infection can also result in throat infections, conjunctivitis, stomach flu, bladder infections and skin rashes. Infection can occur year-round, but most adenoviral illness is recorded during the late winter, spring and early summer months. The incubation period varies, with adenoviral gastroenteritis occurring three to 10 days after exposure, and respiratory illnesses cropping up from as soon as two days to as long as two weeks after contact.

In an article in “Pediatrics in Review,” Canadian researcher Dr. Joanne Langley notes that adenovirus can cause respiratory illness in all age groups but is most often seen in younger and school-age children. Adenovirus is also commonly spread among groups who live in close quarters, such as those in day care centers, residential institutions and military settings.

Langley finds that for kids younger than 2 years of age, up to 8 percent of acute respiratory illnesses are caused by adenovirus. The virus is also responsible for about 25 percent of all pediatric cases of exudative pharyngitis (pus on the tonsils).

Adenovirus is shared through contact with an infected individual’s respiratory droplets, eye secretions or feces. Contact can occur person-to-person or by touching contaminated toys and household objects. Transmission of the virus has also been found to be waterborne, with the adenovirus targeting kids who swim in inadequately chlorinated pools or small contaminated lakes.

To reduce the spread of adenovirus, the CDC recommends contact and droplet precautions: Remember to disinfect toys and counters; sneeze into your elbow; wash hands frequently; and properly chlorinate your pool.

Stoner Wins, Lorenzo Crashes in Wet British Grand Prix

Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner took over the MotoGP World Championship lead by winning the British Grand Prix on a cold, rainy day at Silverstone, while championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) crashed out of his first race in nearly two years. Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso was second and Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards a courageous third just nine days after fracturing his collarbone in Catalunya.

Stoner was pulling away on the ninth lap when Lorenzo high-sided out of third place while caught up in a battle with Dovizioso and San Carlo Honda Gresini's Marco Simoncelli. Lorenzo fell in the Abbey Corner right, his Yamaha YZR-M1 too badly damaged to continue. It was his first crash out of a race since Malaysia in 2009 on the worst day for Yamaha this year; three corners earlier, Lorenzo's teammate Ben Spies had crashed out of fifth. The Texan was taken to the medical center for a check-up.

Simoncelli wouldn't last long, crashing on the brakes on the 11th lap. It was his third crash in six races this year. The crash handed third to the recovering Edwards. Edwards had broken his collarbone during Friday practice in Spain, with surgery to plate it a day later.

Stoner continued to pull away, lapping through to tenth place to win his 27th MotoGP victory.

The margin of victory was 15.169 secs.

"That was torture," Stoner said. "For the last sort of ten laps, the last seven laps I was counting down and they took too long. My hands were freezing, I couldn't brake properly. I didn't understand what brake pressure I had."

Stoner said early in the race he was riding blind after being sprayed while making his way into the lead on the second of 20 laps. "I couldn't see where the wet patches were" for about five laps, he said. "I couldn't understand anywhere on the track where I needed to be. And after that, the water went away from the inside of my visor and I could actually pick my points and get a bit more confident and that's when my lap times started to drop and I started to feel more confident.

"Once we got a bit of a lead I felt a lot more relaxed and just tried to make sure we didn't crash in those conditions, because it was so easy."

Stoner's third consecutive win was the first time a Honda rider had won three races in a row since Rossi did it in 2003. It was also Stoner's fourth win in six races.

After six of 18 races, Stoner leads Lorenzo 116 to 98, with Dovizioso third at 83.

"I'm really happy about second position on the podium, because is very difficult for me to be fast like them in the practice, but we never give up," Dovizioso said.

"I knew the race can be like this, so I try to start fast as I can because I knew (Casey) Stoner was really good. But I tried to follow him, but especially I wanted to stay in front of all the riders because the conditions were very over the limit. There was a big wet patch and we lose control of the bike. So I'm really happy about my strategy and my feeling over the first few laps."

The 37-year-old Edwards was wet, cold, tired and sore, but happy to be back on the podium after almost missing the race.

"Nine days ago I was going home right after I crashed. I had all my flights changed and everything," he said. "I really don't know what to say. I had a good doctor and he did a great job.

"The collarbone wasn't the big issue. I separated my muscles from ribs and that's really what's hurting."

As for the conditions, "It was unbearable After ten, eleven laps, can we just throw the checkered flag? because we knew where we were going to finish." Edwards had a point. The order of the top eight didn't change for the final ten laps.

"It was hard, hard to keep the thing on two wheels. A little tricky in some of those sections."

Ducati Marlboro's Nicky Hayden finished 5.504 secs. behind Edwards in fourth after coming under late pressure from Rizla Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista. Bautista closed the gap in the final laps, but Hayden responded with the fastest lap of the race on the 17th of 20.

Bautista equaled a career best fifth, one spot and 29 secs. in front of Ducati Marlboro's Valentino Rossi. Having qualified 13th, Rossi patiently made his way through the field to salvage sixth.

Cardion AB Motoracing's Karel Abraham (Duc) equaled his best MotoGP finish in seventh.

LCR Honda MotoGP's Toni Elias had his best finish of the season by finishing eighth, though San Carlo Honda Gresini's Hiroshi Aoyama pressed him to the line.

Pramac Racing Team's Loris Capirossi (Duc) was the final rider on the lead lap. Stoner lapped the final two riders, Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP's Hector Barbera (Duc) and Pramac Racing Team's Randy de Puniet.

Off the start, Lorenzo led  from Stoner, Dovizioso, Simoncelli, and Spies, with Hayden up to sixth. Then Lorenzo made a mistake on the first lap and let Dovi through, with Stoner pressing. Rossi was down in 12th.

Stoner took over at the front early on lap two as the gaps increased behind him. On the next lap Hayden ran off at Abbey, giving up fifth to Spies. Hayden would soon lose another spot to Edwards. The three Americans were together in the order.

Early on the fourth lap Simoncelli had a big moment that cost him third as the top four continued to pull away. Spies had Edwards behind him, with Hayden seventh in front of Bautista and Elias. Rossi wasn't making progress.

Simoncelli set the fastest lap on the fifth lap as Stoner pulled his largest gap to this point, 1.356 secs. The lead was solid, but not insurmountable, especially in these conditions.

Edwards passed Spies on the sixth lap as Hayden closed the gap with Bautista, and Abraham continued his march.

Stoner set a new fast lap on the seventh as his lead stretched to three secs., while Lorenzo was through on Simoncelli and hounding Dovizioso. Edwards was safely in fifth, at 15 secs., while Spies was temporarily safe from Hayden and Bautista.

Yamaha's race turned disastrous in the space of three corners. Spies crashed near the end of the eighth lap, handing sixth to Hayden, while Lorenzo high-sided out of third in the Abbey Corner right early on lap nine.

Simoncelli was the next to go, crashing out of turn one on the 10th lap, handing third to the recovering Edwards, while Hayden was now up to fourth and by himself. Bautista was fifth and Rossi was on the move in sixth, though lapping at about the same pace as Hayden.

Stoner was two secs. a lap faster than Dovizioso and streaming away while Edwards was alone in third. Hayden was in fourth, but Bautista was gaining speed and lapping a second faster than Hayden who was two secs. in front ending the 14th lap. Hayden responded with his fastest lap of the race on the 15th and doubled his lead on the Spaniard. The Kentuckian would further up the pace.

Hayden set the fastest lap of the race on the 17th, but with a gap of 4.5 secs. to Edwards, it was unlikely he could steal the podium from the Texan. And Edwards responded with his own best lap of the race on the 18th to secure the podium.