As someone who leaves the house by 4 AM each day, it’s hard for me to feel much sympathy for those who struggle to wake up at a more reasonable hour. But I still remember how difficult it was to wake up as a teenager. The San Jose Mercury News says now that research has confirmed that teens need more sleep than the rest of us, some schools are pushing back their morning bell.

A nine-year-old boy was in hot water yesterday after he was caught playing with a toy gun at lunchtime says the New York Daily News. Sounds kind of reasonable, right? Well, look at the photo - it’s priceless. The “gun” is about two inches long and looks like something G.I Joe would carry.

I wonder what Bob Barker would have to say about this development: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the first chastity belts designed for pets have hit stores. Called a Pet Anti-Breeding System, the inventor was inspired after one of his dogs almost bled to death during its spay surgery. He says prior to the PABS, “his dogs had two unplanned pregnancies courtesy of neighborhood mutts.”

Toyota should have seen what happened to Tiger Woods as a sign. Bergen Record columnist Joe Phalon writes that Toyota’s unparalleled reputation was its most important asset.  And just like Woods, by tarnishing that record of quality, “the company may have inadvertently leveled the playing field.” Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes says even worse than the government’s investigations into the automaker is the fact that “influential shapers of public opinion are joining the metastasizing fray.”

Her passenger was wearing sunglasses but it was cloudy outside. According to Newsday, that’s when police decided to pull over a woman who was speeding along in the carpool lane. Turns out the “passenger” was really a mannequin “fully attired in a long, dark wig, color-coordinated blouse and blazer, scarf and eye makeup.” The only thing she was missing? Legs.

A flight that once took six hours now takes seven. Why? Because the airlines have made a habit of padding their schedules. It’s a costly strategy, says the Wall Street Journal, because it means that fewer flights can be scheduled each day.

The friendly skies got a little less so after a passenger, high on marijuana cookies, started to freak out on board a flight. But the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says little did he know, the flight attendant he threw a punch at was a black belt in karate.

Former Us Weekly editor Janice Min pens a personal essay in this morning’s New York Post about being the “Alpha wife.” More than a quarter of American wives are their family’s main breadwinner. Min says in her family, there was a lot of tension when she “earned more in one paycheck than her husband made in a year.”

How do you survive a “post” modern relationship? And by that, Boston Globe columnist Beth Teitell means one in which a couple’s dirty laundry is regularly posted on Facebook. For Teitell, it’s a question of boundaries: “Where does one person’s right to post a status update end, and another’s right not to have his wife’s 240 Facebook friends know he spent Sunday glued to reruns of ‘‘The Tyra Banks Show’’ begin?”

The New York Times says President Obama has done what most of his predecessors wanted to do but couldn’t: shut out the White House press corps. Though he hasn’t given a news conference in seven months, he has given far more one-on one-interviews than past presidents.

If you’re planning on sending flowers this Valentine’s Day be sure to check out the New York Daily News this morning. The paper ordered a dozen roses from three online florists and two local shops to see who offered the best deal. The verdict? At $59.98, Proflowers.com was the best bargain and their roses lasted two days longer than most of the others.

The St. Petersburg Times has some tips on ways to deal with back pain in this morning’s paper.  Try stretching and building up the abdominal muscles that support your back before seeking medical attention. One way to do both is by practicing yoga.

For athletes, slimmer is not always better says Gina Kolata of the New York Times. In sports where gravity plays a big part, like running or downhill skiing, some athletes find that their performance improves when they weigh less. But it’s a fine line - losing too much weight can produce the opposite effect.

In the ongoing quest for a weight loss miracle, simple ideas like a healthy diet and exercise are often overlooked for anything that offers a quick fix. The New York Times profiles two new devices in today’s paper, one which promises to freeze fat off your midsection and another that uses lasers to zap away “back fat and muffin tops.” VIDEO

Rachael Ray has been running a search for the best pizza in America. And she ended up just a few blocks from where she lives says the New York Daily News. According to Ray, the best slice on the east coast is from the Manhattan pizzeria, Motorino.