LadyHawkღ's Blog – April 2012 Archive (2)

By Kevin Tibbles

NBC News correspondent

CHICAGO -- Stan Wandersee has lived in the same house in St. Paul, Minn., for 50 years; and he’s never had any new neighbors quite as special as the one’s who’ve moved in this spring. High up a tree, across the street, is a family of bald eagles.

“This is a gift of nature that has been bestowed upon us,” he said.

There was a time in America when the bald eagle was on the endangered species list and facing extinction. The deadly…

By NBCBayArea.com and msnbc.com staff

One of most popular artists in America, "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade, died Friday at his home in California, his family said.

He was 54, and his family issued a statement that his death appeared to be from natural causes.

"Thom provided a wonderful life for his family,'' his wife, Nanette, said in a statement. "We are shocked and saddened by his death.''

His paintings are hanging in an estimated 1 out of every 20 homes in…