Sounds good to us.

AARP The Magazine is out with its list of “Best Places to Live the Simple Life.” Most of ‘em sound pretty good, even if you aren’t all that geezed yet.

Here’s who made the cut:

Tucson, Arizona

Greenville, South Carolina

Montpelier, Vermont

Logan, Utah

Ames, Iowa

So, what makes these places more desirable? Check out the criteria by visiting AARP.

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The AKC announced their nationwide registration statistics which revealed that for the 18th consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever is the most popular purebred in America. But, while more than twice as many Labs were registered last year than any other breed, making it a likely leader for many years to come, the Bulldog continues to amble its way up the list. It made news last year by returning to the AKC’s Top 10 for the first time in over 70 years and now has jumped 6 percent, advancing two spots to land in 8th place.

Here’s a look at Tucson’s Top 10 breeds as compared to the rest of the country:

TUCSON 2008
1. Labrador Retriever
2. German Shepherd Dog
3. Golden Retrieverg
4. Yorkshire Terrier
5. Dachshund
6. Shih Tzu
7. Bulldog
8. Boxer
9. Poodle
10. Chihuahua
* Registration data pulled from Tucson zip codes as specified by U.S. Postal Service

NATIONWIDE 2008
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Bulldog
9. Poodle
10. Shih Tzu

“Tucson is pretty consistent with the rest of the country in terms of their love for versatile Sporting dogs such as Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers,” said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “However, residents proved that Tucson does have its own preferences by including the Chihuahua on their local Top 10 list and relegating the fifth most popular breed nationally, the beagle, to fourteenth place locally.”

Visit AKC.org for information on other cities and the complete list of national rankings.

Source: American Kennel Club

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That’s why it is disturbing, to say the least, to return to the spot where you left it and discover that it is no longer there.

This happens more frequently in some communities than others. Forbes decided to find out where you are most likely to experience that sinking feeling.

Here are the 10 worst places to leave a car on its own:

10. Tucson, Ariz.

9. Yakima, Wash.

8. Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, Ariz.

7. Albuquerque, N.M.

6. Laredo, Tex.

5. San Francisco/Oakland/Freemont, Calif.

4. Stockton, Calif.

3. San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, Calif.

2. Las Vegas/Paradise, Nev.

1. Modesto, Calif.

To check out some facts and figures on these auto-pinching meccas, visit Forbes.

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MarketWatch took a look at the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas and used a variety of data from multiple resources to determine which provided the 10 worst climates for business. Six of the bottom 10 were warm-weather cities, many of which were hurt by the burst of the real estate bubble.

Here’s the list:

50. New Orleans
49. Buffalo
48. Tucson, Ariz.
47. Sacramento
46. Rochester, N.Y.
T44. Tampa-St. Petersburg
T44. Los Angeles
T42. Virginia Beach
T42. Detroit
41. San Antonio

What were the factors that caused these towns to get the big thumbs down? Read all about it at MarketWatch.

Thomson Reuters released its annual study identifying hospitals that demonstrated the fastest, most consistent improvement in the nation over five consecutive years. Nine of the 100 leading hospitals are in Texas. Florida and New York are each home to eight, and Pennsylvania boasts seven. Kentucky and Tennessee each have six winning hospitals, and California and Michigan have five apiece.

The study rated hospitals on eight factors — patient mortality, medical complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, and use of evidence-based medicine. Researchers evaluated 2,867 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals grouped into five categories: major teaching hospitals, other teaching hospitals, large community hospitals, medium-sized community hospitals, and small community hospitals.

Here are the winning hospitals, by category:

Major Teaching Hospitals

• University Medical Center – Tucson, AZ
• Christiana Care Health System – Wilmington, DE
• Shands at the University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
• University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics – Iowa City, IA
• Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center – Boston, MA
• Baystate Medical Center – Springfield, MA
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Boston, MA
• Henry Ford Hospital – Detroit, MI
• The Mount Sinai Medical Center – New York, NY
• New York Hospital Queens – Flushing, NY
• Westchester Medical Center – Valhalla, NY
• Duke University Hospital – Durham, NC
• Allegheny General Hospital – Pittsburgh, PA
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center – Nashville, TN
• Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center – Houston, TX

Teaching Hospitals

• St. Bernards Medical Center – Jonesboro, AR
• St. Anthony Central Hospital – Denver, CO
• Florida Hospital – Orlando, FL
• Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare – Tallahassee, FL
• OSF Saint Francis Medical Center – Peoria, IL
• Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center-South Bend – South Bend, IN
• Via Christi Regional Medical Center – Wichita, KS
• Bronson Methodist Hospital – Kalamazoo, MI
• St. Joseph Mercy Oakland – Pontiac, MI
• McLaren Regional Medical Center – Flint, MI
• St. Cloud Hospital – St. Cloud, MN
• Valley Hospital Medical Center – Las Vegas, NV
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center – Livingston, NJ
• Altru Hospital – Grand Forks, ND
• Providence St. Vincent Medical Center – Portland, OR
• Saint Vincent Health Center – Erie, PA
• Heritage Valley Beaver – Beaver, PA
• PinnacleHealth – Harrisburg, PA
• Robert Packer Hospital – Sayre, PA
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis – Memphis, TN
• CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi – Corpus Christi, TX
• Methodist Dallas Medical Center – Dallas, TX
• Medical Center Hospital – Odessa, TX
• Corpus Christi Medical Center – Corpus Christi, TX
• Meriter Hospital – Madison, WI

Large Community Hospitals

• Jackson Hospital – Montgomery, AL
• Alta Bates Summit Medical Center – Oakland, CA
• St. Bernardine Medical Center – San Bernardino, CA
• Saddleback Memorial Medical Center – Laguna Hills, CA
• NCH Downtown Naples Hospital – Naples, FL
• Flagler Hospital – St. Augustine, FL
• Boca Raton Community Hospital – Boca Raton, FL
• Rockford Memorial Hospital – Rockford, IL
• Hardin Memorial Hospital – Elizabethtown, KY
• Western Baptist Hospital – Paducah, KY
• Shady Grove Adventist Hospital – Rockville, MD
• Allegiance Health – Jackson, MI
• Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare – New Hartford, NY
• Orange Regional Medical Center – Goshen, NY
• Rex Healthcare – Raleigh, NC
• Genesis HealthCare System – Zanesville, OH
• Saint Thomas Hospital – Nashville, TN
• Citizens Medical Center – Victoria, TX
• CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System – Texarkana, TX
• Providence Everett Medical Center – Everett, WA

Medium Community Hospitals

• Brooksville Regional Hospital – Brooksville, FL
• Oconee Regional Medical Center – Milledgeville, GA
• Adventist GlenOaks Hospital – Glendale Heights, IL
• Mary Greeley Medical Center – Ames, IA
• Murray-Calloway County Hospital – Murray, KY
• Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center – Danville, KY
• Saint Joseph East – Lexington, KY
• Grenada Lake Medical Center – Grenada, MS
• Bolivar Medical Center – Cleveland, MS
• San Juan Regional Medical Center – Farmington, NM
• Olean General Hospital – Olean, NY
• St. James Mercy Hospital – Hornell, NY
• Rutherford Hospital, Inc. – Rutherfordton, NC
• Medcenter One Hospital – Bismarck, ND
• Pocono Medical Center – East Stroudsburg, PA
• Cookeville Regional Medical Center – Cookeville, TN
• Paris Regional Medical Center – Paris, TX
• Carilion New River Valley Medical Center – Christiansburg, VA
• Aurora West Allis Medical Center – West Allis, WI
• Aurora BayCare Medical Center – Green Bay, WI

Small Community Hospitals

• St. Elizabeth Community Hospital – Red Bluff, CA
• Doctors Hospital of Manteca – Manteca, CA
• Jackson County Hospital District – Marianna, FL
• The King’s Daughters’ Hospital & Health Services – Madison, IN
• St. Joseph Regional Medical Center-Plymouth – Plymouth, IN
• Newton Medical Center – Newton, KS
• Mercy Regional Health Center – Manhattan, KS
• Baptist Hospital Northeast – LaGrange, KY
• Falmouth Hospital – Falmouth, MA
• Trace Regional Hospital – Houston, MS
• Hannibal Regional Hospital – Hannibal, MO
• Northern Montana Hospital – Havre, MT
• Corning Hospital – Corning, NY
• INTEGRIS Baptist Regional Health Center – Miami, OK
• Gettysburg Hospital – Gettysburg, PA
• St. Mary’s Healthcare Center – Pierre, SD
• St. Mary’s Medical Center of Campbell County – LaFollette, TN
• Baptist Hospital of Cocke County – Newport, TN
• Ennis Regional Medical Center – Ennis, TX
• Aurora Medical Center – Two Rivers, WI

For more information, go to Thomson Reuters.

Source: Thomson Reuters