New York Time—A gunman killed eight people at a mall in Omaha this afternoon and then killed himself, setting off panic among holiday shoppers, the police said.

    "The person who we believe to be the shooter has died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds," Sergeant Teresa Negron of the Omaha Police Department said at televised news." We have been able to clear the mall," she said." We don't believe we have any other shooters." The police said that at least five other people had been injured in the shootings.

    She did not give the shooter's identity." We are still conducting the investigation," Sergeant Negron said, adding that the city's mayor, who was out of town, was on his way back to Omaha.

    She said the police received a 911 call from someone inside the Westroads Mall on the west side of Omaha, and shots could be heard in the background. The first police officers arrived at the mall six minutes after the first call, she said but by then the shootings were over.

    It is reported that the gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home by relatives. A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity（匿名）said the note indicated that the gunman wanted to "go out in style."

    The shootings broke the usually ordinary routine of holiday shopping. The gunman was said by some witnesses to have fired about 20 shots into a crowd. Some customers and workers ran screaming from the mall, while others dived into dressing rooms to hide from the shooter.

    Shoppers and store workers were trapped inside the mall, which has roughly 135 stores. Others streamed out of mall exits with their hands raised. President Bush was in Omaha this morning to deliver a speech, but he had left the city by the time the shootings took place.

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    CHICAGO -- New research on vegetables and aging gives mothers another reason to say "I told you so." It is found that eating vegetables appears to help keep the brain young and may slow the mental decline（下降） sometimes associated with growing old.

    On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate more than two servings of vegetables daily appeared about five years younger at the end of the six-year study than those who ate few or no vegetables.

    The research in almost 2,000 Chicago-area men and women doesn't prove that vegetables reduce mental decline, but it adds to mounting evidence pointing in that direction. The findings also echo（回应） previous research in women only.

    Green leafy vegetables including spinach（菠菜）, kale and collards （甘蓝） appeared to be the most beneficial. The researchers said that may be because they contain healthy amounts of vitamin E, an antioxidant（抗氧化剂） that is believed to help fight chemicals produced by the body that can damage cells.

    Vegetables generally contain more vitamin E than fruits, which were not linked with slowed mental decline in the study. Vegetables also are often eaten with healthy fats such as salad oils, which help the body absorb vitamin E and other antioxidants, said lead author Martha Clare Morris, a researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

    The fats from healthy oils can help keep cholesterol（胆固醇）low and arteries （动脉）clear, which both contribute to brain health. The study was published in this week's issue of the journal Neurology and funded with grants from the National Institute on Aging.

    There is a lake near a forest in Sweden. The water in lake is very clear and everything is quiet and still. On the far side of the water is some farmlands and further away, across the fields, is an old church built on a hill. It has just stopped raining. The brook flowing into the lake is full and there is still some half-melted snow from last winter on the ground.

    The reason the water is so clear and everything is so quiet and still, is that most of the plant and animal life in and around the lake is died. There are no birds because all the fish and insects, which the birds need for food, have disappeared. Many trees in the forest are losing their leaves and bark, and are sick and dying. Others were blown down by the high winds of last winter. A farmer is working in a field planting something, but unless he plants a stronger kind of seed this year, the crop will be between 25 to 40 percent lower than a few years ago. The stones of the old church tower are turning to power and unless the tower is repaired soon, it will fall down.

    The smoke coming out of factories and poisonous gases from cars and trucks causes all the death and destruction in this place. And yet this silent lake is hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest factory and highways.

    Judy Wright and her husband decided to move closer to their son, Chris, who lived in Georgia. About a month after the move, Judy fell ill, suffering from her ongoing battle against Parkinson's disease.

    Her condition worsened rapidly and she required medical care at home. The family hired a nursing aid who canceled at the last minute. Instead, a woman named TunDe Hector showed up in her place.

    One day, TunDe shared a story with Judy and her family. She remembered a particularly difficult day in 2014, when a stranger had helped her with a kind gesture. She had run out of gas, and with only$5 in her pocket, was walking to a gas station, gas can in hand. A man saw her walking and turned his car around. He paid for her gas and gave her all the cash left in his wallet. Upon hearing the story, Judy's son, Chris, took off his hat and said, "That was me!” He was the stranger that had helped TunDe on that difficult day.

    During the care of Judy, the Wright family learned about TunDe's family and her own dream. The nursing aid, TunDe hoped that one day she could become an OB-GYN nurse.Her tuition was past due(逾期) and she had a family to care for, but she was determined to achieve that goal for herself and her family.

    Judy died on July 9,2017. Instead of flowers, her family asked mourners(悼念者) to donate to TunDe's education , to assist her in paying for her nursing school. In less than a week, they raised more than $8,000 and presented her with the surprise check.

    Homebuyers nationwide are watching housing prices go up, up, and up. "How high can they go?" is the question on everyone's lips.

    It's crazy, "said Tim, who is looking for a house near the beach. "In 1993, I bought a two-bedroom house in Venice for $70，000. My friends thought then that I was overpaying. Five years later, I had to move. I sold it for $230，000, which was a nice profit. Last year, the exact same house was for sale for S510, 000!

    It is a seller's market. Homebuyers feel like they have to offer at least 10% more than the asking price. Donna, a new owner of a one-bedroom house in Venice Beach, said, "That's what I did. I told the owner that whatever anyone offers you, I'll give you $20,000 more, under the table, so you don't have to pay your realtor(房地产经纪人) any of it. I was tired of looking.”

    Tim said, "Whether you decide to buy or decide not to buy, you still feel like you made the wrong decision. If you buy, you feel like you overpaid. If you don't buy, you want to kick yourself for passing up a great opportunity.”

    Everyone says the bubble has to burst sometime, but everyone hopes it will burst the day after they sell their house. Even government officials have no idea what the future will bring. "All we can say is that, inevitably, these things go in cycles," said the state director of housing. "What goes up must come down But, as we all know, housing prices always stay up a little higher than they go down. So you can't lose over the long run. Twenty years down the road, your house is always worth more than you paid for it.”

    The annual celebration of St. Patrick's Day is coming soon to the Canton Tower. St. Patrick's Day is an Irish cultural and religious celebration occurring annually on March 17. The festival celebrates the life of St. Patrick, who helped the poor and taught the Irish people good things, The Lanton lower has become one of, the premier (最初的)party sites for this international and lively event. As part of the celebration, the tower will brighten the night with brilliant light shows. Participants (参加者)are sure to enjoy the festive Irish atmosphere.

    As in the past years, camping lovers will gather to spend a night beneath the Canton Tower, The time for the camping adventure will be from 3 p. m. on March 17 to 9 a. m. on March 18. The event offers people a great chance to enjoy this special and free camping site.

    Artists will perform a range of music with instruments played typically in Irish folk music, featuring tin whistles and wind pipes. Foodies also will be in for a treat, as the taste of traditional Irish food will surely attract everyone.

    To celebrate this festival, dancers dressed in Irish green, the colour of Ireland, will pop up around the Canton Tower. The parade will go along the main streets and thousands of people will watch, waving flags. Good luck if you meet with these "green spirits."