In recent years automakers have been loading high-end cars with an array of built-in gadgets that enable drivers to multi-task behind the wheel — equipment that enables text-messaging, Internet browsing, GPS navigation and phone dialing. But this technological advance has raised concerns that drivers’ attention will be diverted from the road.

The new dashboard technology guidelines, proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, would exempt electronic-warning systems that alert drivers to potential collisions or lane changes, however.

The guidelines also include recommendations on how to make dashboard devices less distracting and time-consuming to use, including reducing the need for drivers to turn their eyes away from the road. The guidelines are aimed at passenger cars and sport utility vehicles, not trucks.

“We recognize that vehicle manufacturers want to build vehicles that include the tools and conveniences expected by today’s American drivers,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want without disrupting a driver’s attention or sacrificing safety.”

The guidelines are a good first step toward reducing driver distractions, said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices.

But “the safest thing is for drivers is, not use these systems at all — both hands on the wheel and the mind focused solely on driving,” she said.

NHTSA is also considering future guidelines to address portable electronic devices drivers carry with them in cars, including GPS navigation systems, smart phones, electronic tablets and pads, and other mobile communication devices.

In December, the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigation highway accidents, said that texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed and urged all states to impose total bans except for emergencies.

Currently, 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, while nine states and D.C. bar hand-held cellphone use. Thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. But enforcement is generally not a high priority, and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

McKinney is right behind it.

The figures were gathered by MSN’s Real Estate website.

In 2009, the population of Frisco was more than 102,000, which means it grew more than 200 percent from the year 2000.

Today, the population of Frisco is more than 124,000.

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso believes the growth is exciting. “We have so many things going on at the same time you can’t take a breath.”

Mayor Maso points to new construction projects like a hospital being built near Frisco Square.  “The growth will come if people see that it’s a place to live and raise families.”

Frisco is already home to big retail stores like IKEA and sports venues like FC Dallas Stadium, where professional soccer is played.

Frisco’s Director of Development, John Lettelleir, said growth was part of the plan.  “They had a vision and people stayed committed to that vision to make what you see here happen. These are ideas that came about over 20 years ago.”

McKinney is right behind them as the second fastest growing city in the nation.

“Seems like it goes back and forth between us and them,” said McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller.

He adds their success lies in a ‘hometown’ feel.

“I love everything about McKinney. It’s a small town.  I grew up in a small town. But we have 135,000 people here and it just doesn’t feel like 135,00.”

It is difficult to believe that 20 years ago both were small town farming communities.

Mayor Maso remembers what it was like when he moved to Frisco in 1992.  “We didn’t even have a traffic light. So, my how things have changed.”

Denton also made the list of fastest growing cities at number 13.

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Walk through 3801 Normandy Dr. in Dallas in the slideshow below, and look for 360 degree panoramas of the home embedded in the story. 

DALLAS/FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – They’re the epitome of North Texas luxury.

Just head east from Fort Worth into Arlington and further to Dallas; multi-million dollar home listings are heating up the regional real estate market.

“We’re in a pretty healthy market here in Dallas,” said Robbie Briggs, owner of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty.

Briggs says the luxury market is growing as the region draws wealthy new residents. These homes are filled with wine cellars and home theaters. Another comes with an indoor basketball court.

“We’re having people come in from all over the world,” Briggs said. “People may or may not be traveling quite as much, so home is a real refuge for them.”

One of the most iconic homes in Fort Worth is on the market. The classic colonial style residence sits directly across from the first hole of the Colonial Golf Course.

“It represents the true elements of colonial architecture, but it’s been totally updated,” said realtor John Zimmerman.

From its grand entrance and staircase to its contemporary styled master suite, the $1.9 million, five-bedroom, five bathroom home focuses on elegance and location.

While it’s traditional on the outside, the third floor transports visitors into a fully customized 1920s style home theater.

The media room appears to be a must-have feature in many of today’s luxury listings. A French-styled home in Dallas’s University Park has its own playfully decorated theater room, as well.

“This house was kind of designed around the grandkids coming over and spending time,” said realtor Joan Eleazar.

The $6.8 million home has five bedrooms and five bathrooms – including a meticulously designed master bath complete with “His & Hers” marbled mats.

The home also features a 200 sq. ft. wine cellar and tasting room that houses up to 700 bottles of wine. Click here for a 360 degree view of that room, or here for a view of the private theater room.

“Many of the chandeliers were imported from Italy,” Eleazar said of the home’s finish-out. “Everything from the mantles to the French limestone flooring was imported from Europe just for this home.”

This is what the home looks like when walking up to it.

Wealthy buyers looking for quality and resort living will want to eye a Mediterranean style home in southwest Fort Worth.

“That’s always the first word everybody says is ‘Wow,’” said realtor Vanessa Andrews with MagnificentProperties.com.

The 11,000 sq. ft. four-story home sits on more than an acre of land just off the 18^th hole in the Mira Vista community.

“They call it the Castle,” Andrews said. “The Castle on the Hill.”

In addition to the one-of-a-kind views, the $4.8 million luxury listing boasts four master suites.

“It’s a very open design and floor plan with wonderful flow,” Andrews said.

Whoever buys the home will be able to throw quite the party with the home’s cave-like grotto, a rooftop cantina bar and patio and indoor basketball court and gym.

“You can have your own oasis right here in Fort Worth,” Andrews said.

All realtors agreed, though: If seeking luxury, Dallas-Fort Worth has something to satisfy all tastes.

“There is something for everyone,” Andrews said.

They say they are trying to save some of the 13,000 jobs that American wants to eliminate as part of its bankruptcy.

CBS 11′s Robbie Owens reports:

Sweet Treats Make Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts:

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Save Money By Making Your Own Valentine’s Day Bouquet:

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Senator Schumer kicked off his news conference in New York on Sunday by referencing Ellen Terrell, the female passenger who spoke out to CBS 11 earlier this month.

“At one point the passenger was asked if she plays tennis because she of her ‘cute’ figure, “ said Schumer, who held his both hands up making quotations signs with his fingers as he said “cute.”

He described what happened to Terrell at DFW airport as it was reported word for word in our CBS 11 investigation.

“A passenger at Dallas Fort Worth claims she was asked to walk through a body scanner three times for the simple purpose of letting screeners in another room get multiple views of her image.”

And, Schumer was not only familiar with Terrell’s claims but also the complaints our investigation exposed from other female travelers.

“Some report feeling targeted or being subjected to a peep show.”

The Senator announced that he is introducing legislation this week that will mandate TSA post passenger advocates at every airport in the country who can be summoned by passengers to hear their concerns if they feel they’ve been inappropriately treated by TSA officers.

“These latest incidents offer further proof that passengers need an onsite point of contact who they can bring grievances to and who can advocate on their behalf when they feel they are being treated unfairly or inappropriately, “ said Schumer.

“Going through security at our nations airports should not be a humiliating or degrading experience. Because the TSA has refused to put passenger advocates at our nation’s airports, today I’m introducing legislation that would force them to do so.”

The RIGHTS act would specifically:

• Require the TSA to establish an “Office for Passenger Support”
• Require every airport where TSA operates to have at least one TSA Passneger Advocate on duty at all times
• Mandate every airport where TSA operates to have clearly visible signage explaining that a TSA passenger advocate can be summoned
• Establish best practices to resolve frequent public complaints and conduct training of TSA officers to resolve frequently occurring passenger complaints
• And field advance notification calls from individuals with medical conditions or disabilities to pre-arrange for a screening process at the airport that ensures the safety of the flight without causing undue hardship for the disabled passneger.

In response to the proposed legislation, Ellen Terrell told CBS 11 she likes the idea of a passenger advocate. She believes the Senator is on the “right track.” Terrell, however, would like a “third party, unbiased person” to become the passenger advocate, not a TSA agent.

This comes just has North Texas is coping with cold temperatures and light snowfall from Sunday night. The high temperature on Monday is forecast to be 50 degrees, but morning temperatures were just barely above the freezing mark.

“We believe that it happened during the middle of the night,” said Meals on Wheels media spokeswoman Denise Harris. “Our workers went in [Monday] morning to start preparing the meals and there was no power to any part of the building.”

Electric provider Oncor is working to repair the problem and restore power to the facility, which will have to be inspected before deliveries can get underway. Harris said that they are hopeful that the issue will be resolved later on Monday.

This is the fourth time that such an incident has happened to the facility, Harris said. They have been serving Tarrant County for 38 years. “For less than $20, this has caused such a great deal of stress on our agency, to our volunteers, to our clients,” Harris said. “But it will cost us upward of several thousand dollars to repair this.”

“There’s always a Plan B,” added Harris. Meals on Wheels clients have two days worth of shelf-stable meals on hand, provided by the organization, for use on days when deliveries are not being made or the kitchen is closed.

Still, those who live near Meals on Wheels recipients are asked to check on neighbors or loved ones, to ensure that they are doing okay in the cold weather.

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The U.S State Department expanded its warning of non-essential travel to 14 states in northern and central Mexico.

Their warning back in April included 10 Mexican states.

The State Department says that U.S. citizens have recently fallen victim to drug-cartel related activity “including homicide, gun battles and kidnapping.” according to the State Department website.

The State Department says according to the most recent homicide figures published by the Mexican government, 47,515 people were killed in narcotics-related violence in Mexico between December 1, 2006 and September 30, 2011, with 12,903 narcotics-related homicides in the first nine months of 2011 alone.

While most of those killed in narcotics-related violence have been members of Transnational Criminal Organizations, innocent people have also been killed.

The number of U.S. citizens reported to the Department of State as murdered in Mexico increased from 35 in 2007 to 120 in 2011.

The Mexican states that have been listed in the warning include areas of Aguascalientes, Guerrero and Nayarit in central Mexico -  and raises its advisory against non-essential travel to areas including Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa and Zacatecas as well as Tamaulipas and Michoacan.

Get more travel warning information from the U.S. State Department website.

*Additional information for this article was obtained from the U.S. State Department website.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS Radio Inc./CBSDFW.COM . All Rights Reserved.)

A federal judge in Dallas on Thursday afternoon sentenced 46-year-old Alan Todd May. Restitution will be decided later.

May in December 2010 pleaded guilty to mail fraud for raising the money under false pretenses.

Prosecutors say May, who’s been in custody since being arrested in mid-2010 in San Francisco, used investment funds for extravagant personal spending and also to pay his relatives.

The former president of Prosper Oil & Gas Inc. claimed to own and operate leases in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas. Investigators say more than 170 investors were scammed, including some who were told that annual returns would top 25 percent.

The company was placed into receivership.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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The homepage of a speed dating company. (credit: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) - Are you one of the millions of Americans who use online dating to look for love? A new scientific study of the popular practice shows when it comes to finding a soulmate, you might be better off searching elsewhere. The study found that online dating is basically a crapshoot when it comes to finding love. “Online dating is a marvelous addition to the ways in which singles can meet potential romantic partners,” study author Dr. Eli Finkel, associate professor of social psychology at Northwestern University, said in a written statement. But “users need to be aware of its many pitfalls.”

Click Here To Read More From CBS News

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More than half admitted describing someone’s prognosis in a way they knew was too rosy. Nearly 20 percent said they hadn’t fully disclosed a medical mistake for fear of being sued. And 1 in 10 of those surveyed said they’d told a patient something that wasn’t true in the past year.

The survey, by Massachusetts researchers and published in this month’s Health Affairs, doesn’t explain why, or what wasn’t true.

“I don’t think that physicians set out to be dishonest,” said lead researcher Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, a Harvard Medical School professor and director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Mongan Institute for Health Policy. She said the untruths could have been to give people hope.

But it takes open communication for patients to make fully informed decisions about their health care, as opposed to the “doctor-knows-best” paternalism of medicine’s past, Iezzoni added.

The survey offers “a reason for patients to be vigilant and to be very clear with their physician about how much they do want to know,” she said.

The findings come from a 2009 survey of more than 1,800 physicians nationwide to see if they agree with and follow certain standards medical professionalism issued in 2002. Among the voluntary standards are that doctors should be open and honest about all aspects of patient care, and promptly disclose any mistakes.

A third of those surveyed didn’t completely agree that doctors should ‘fess up about mistakes. That’s even though a growing number of medical centers are adopting policies that tell doctors to say “I’m sorry” up front, in part because studies have found patients less likely to sue when that happens.

Not revealing a mistake is “just inexcusable,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, a prominent medical ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania. Beyond decency, “your care now has to be different because of what happened.”

The vast majority of those surveyed agreed that physicians should fully inform patients of the risks, not just the benefits, of treatment options and never tell a patient something that isn’t true — even though some admitted they hadn’t followed that advice at least on rare occasions in the past year.

Perhaps least surprising is that doctors give overly positive prognoses. It’s hard to deliver bad news, especially when a patient has run out of options, and until recently doctors have had little training in how to do so. But Iezzoni said patients with the worst outlook especially deserve to know, so they can get their affairs in order, and patient studies have found most want to know.

What else might doctors not tell? There are shades of gray, said Caplan, the ethicist. For example, he’s heard doctors agonize over what to tell parents about a very premature baby’s chances, knowing the odds are really bad but also knowing they’ve seen miracles.

Doctors prescribe placebos sometimes, and telling the patient could negate chances of the fake treatment helping, he noted. Sometimes they exaggerate a health finding to shock the patient into shaping up.

And sometimes it’s a matter of dribbling out a hard truth to give patients a chance to adjust, Caplan said: “OK, this looks serious but we’re going to order some more tests,” when the doctor already knows just how grim things are.

Withholding the full story is getting harder, though, Iezzoni said. Not only do more patients Google their conditions so they know what to ask, but some doctors who have embraced electronic medical records allow patients to log in and check their own test results.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Experts said retail prices for beef could climb as much as 10 percent a year in 2012 and 2013, and the increase could be even greater if demand from other countries increases.

Last month the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the U.S. herd had declined to 90.8 million cattle, 2 percent less than the previous year and the lowest inventory since 1952, when there were 88.1 million.

“We’re producing less beef so prices are going to go up,” Texas AgriLife Extension Service livestock economist David Anderson said.

Ranchers have sold more of their cattle in recent years to meet increased costs for feed, fuel and other expenses. The soaring feed costs come amid heightened demand for corn to produce ethanol and to meet a growing export market.

The situation has been worst in Texas, the nation’s leading cattle producer, and other parts of the southern plains and southwest, where a record drought caused pastures to wither, leaving ranchers with few options but to sell their cattle or pay top-dollar for feed.

There are 1.4 million fewer cattle — a record 660,000 of those cows — in Texas this year compared with the previous year, accounting for about 74 percent of the drop in numbers nationally. The animals were either moved to another state or were slaughtered.

Texas still leads the nation with 11.9 million head of cattle and calves, an 11 percent drop from last January. Cattle numbers plunged 12 percent in Oklahoma, to 4.5 million head, and in New Mexico by 10 percent, to 1.39 million head.

While cattle numbers dropped in those states, they have climbed elsewhere, especially in the Northern Plains where more rain led to plentiful pastureland.

Even in the southwest, there has been some good news, as the USDA reports that producers held onto more heifers, or young cows, than some expected. The January report showed a 1 percent increase over last year’s number of heifers retained.

That could put the industry in position to grow the herd more quickly

Until the cattle supply increases, consumers will see higher prices, said Lane Broadbent, a livestock analyst with KIS Futures in Oklahoma City.

Broadbent said worldwide demand for U.S. beef also could increase in the next couple of years, causing prices to stay steady or rise even if the herd size grows as expected.

“An era of cheap meat might not happen for another two to three years,” Broadbent said. “It’s basically supply and demand, and this USDA report showed that our supplies are going to increase.”

USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam said producers who see good prices at auction might still sell off their heifers. Ranchers must weigh whether they’ll come out ahead by selling those heifers in coming months or hang onto them and sell the calves from the animals.

“There’s potential for increased retention,” Shagam said. “How that evolves during the year will depend on these producer decisions.”

The cattle industry has for decades gone through cycles of expansion and contraction. The U.S. herd typically grows for about 10 years before supplies increase to a point where cattle and beef prices begin to drop. That’s when ranchers begin to sell off their animals and the contraction begins.

“This is free enterprise,” Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist Stephen Amosson said. “Everything goes to the bottom line. If they’d be making a bunch of money they would have been expanding before this.”

Starting in the 1980s and through the 1990s the cycles were influenced by a shift in demand, which brought about big declines in cattle numbers. During that time people began to eat more chicken when the meat started showing up as nuggets, wings and in forms other than whole chickens, Anderson, the economist, said.

The USDA projects per capita beef consumption will drop to 55.7 pounds in 2013 before climbing to 58.9 pounds in 2020. Meanwhile per capita consumption of chicken was forecast to increase throughout the decade, with 2020 showing 91.5 pounds.

Richard Thorpe, a rancher in Winters, about 200 miles southwest of Fort Worth, culled more than 75 percent of his 1,000-head herd because of drought. He plans to slowly rebuild with the animals he kept, and is optimistic now that the long drought is finally over.

“We’ve kept the youngest, best and most fertile,” said Winters. “We have a lot of hope we are through with this horrible drought. What makes it scary to us is we have to have spring grass.”

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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The airports include the three used by hijackers to launch the terror attacks in September 2001: Washington Dulles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Boston’s Logan International Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration’s program, already in a test phase in seven other airports, is the Obama administration’s first attempt at a passenger screening program responsive to frequent complaints that the government is not using common sense when it screens all passengers at airports in the same way. Under the new program, eligible travelers have the option to volunteer more personal information about themselves so that the government can vet them for security purposes before they arrive at airport checkpoints.

“Good, thoughtful, sensible security by its very nature facilitates lawful travel and legitimate commerce,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

The program works this way: Participating travelers will walk through a dedicated lane at airport security checkpoints. They will provide the TSA officer with a specially marked boarding pass. A machine will read the barcode, and travelers deemed “low-risk,” will likely be allowed to keep on belts, shoes and jackets and leave laptops and liquids in bags when being screened.

Not everyone is eligible to participate in the program, which is already being tested at airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Eligible travelers are some of those who participate in American and Delta airlines’ frequent flier programs, as well as travelers in three other trusted traveler programs, which do charge fees to participate. About 336,000 passengers have been screened through the program since the testing began last year, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

By the end of 2012, the government expects select passengers in frequent flier programs for US Airways, United and Alaska Airlines to be eligible to participate. The program is expected to be operating in Reagan National Airport near Washington, Salt Lake City International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport by the end of March.

“We are pleased to expand this important effort, in collaboration with our airline and airport partners, as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system,” said TSA chief John Pistole.

Pistole has said he hopes to eventually test the program at all airports and with all airlines around the country, but that might take years.

The program is expected to be operating in these airports by the end of 2012: Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Denver International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Honolulu International Airport, New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Puerto Rico’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport, Oregon’s Portland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Florida’s Tampa International Airport and Alaska’s Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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The assessed value of all residential and commercial property across the state increased to $1.69 trillion in 2011, compared to the previous year’s $1.67 trillion. In 2010, Texas suffered the first decline in statewide property values in 17 years, and state budget writers had anticipated another 1 percent decrease last year — but 2011 was more positive than expected, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday.

The assessed value is a key variable in school funding, which is based on a mix of local property taxes and state dollars. The difference will save the state perhaps $300 million to $400 million by reducing its obligation to school districts, according to Joe Wisnoski of Moak Casey & Associates, a school finance consulting firm.

Still, the increase is relatively insignificant in relation to Texas’ overall two-year budget of $173.5 billion — and it won’t necessarily be used to undo some of the $4 billion reduction in school aid that the Legislature enacted last year.

“It probably will make very, very little difference in the bottom line of school districts,” Wisnoski told the Statesman.

But the increase in property values, combined with the state’s collection of more tax revenue than previously expected, adds to the perception that Texas is climbing out of its budget hole.

“We’re certainly above the trend line across the board, but it’s still early,” said Dale Craymer, president of the business-backed Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. “If current trends hold, we will be in relatively good shape.”

Since the state’s fiscal year began in September, sales tax revenue has come in about double the projected rate of growth.

Other key sources of revenue have performed exceedingly well, particularly the natural gas production tax, which is expected to be up 25 percent compared with the previous budget. Much of that money goes to the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which is expected to have $7.3 billion available by the end of the two-year budget.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said in December that the state would have $1.6 billion more than previously expected in the 2012-13 budget.

But she also warned that legislators would likely have to tap the Rainy Day Fund when they convene again next year given that they left $4.3 billion in Medicaid obligations unpaid during last year’s session.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It’s been a fairly mild winter here in North Texas, but that probably hasn’t stopped the dry weather from wreaking havoc on your skin. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on skin-care products, CBS 11 News is showing how you can combat the dryness safely with everyday household products.

June Pillay let us in on a secret. She says she’s a germaphobe, and is constantly washing her hands. For her, life revolves around keeping herself and her two sons healthy and clean. But the constant hand-washing comes with a rough price. “My face is dry, hands are dry, and feet are dry,” Pillay said.

To stay moisturized, she spends hundreds of dollars a year on products, from lotions to creams. “We have stuff for lips, for hands, we have cuticle stuff, I have body stuff, feet stuff,” she said. She’d like to cut down costs, and cut down on all the unknown ingredients. “You should know what you’re putting on your skin.”

CBS 11 News enlisted her help for a test. During the past two weeks, Pillay has been making her own skin-care products from recipes found online using everyday products from the grocery store.

For exfoliation and moisturizing, she made a spa-like sugar scrub for her hands and feet using avocado oil, sugar and eucalyptus oil. She also whipped up a couple different lotions using shea butter, vitamin E tablets, avocado or coconut oils. “The shea butter really kept in the moisture and just sealed the skin off, so you didn’t feel so dry,” Pillay said.

To take care of her face, she made a mask out of Greek yogurt, oatmeal and honey. And, for her lips, she made a soothing balm out of aloe vera gel, shea butter and vegetable glycerin. From body scrubs, to lotions, lip balms and face masks, she tested nearly a dozen different skin-care recipes. All together, these homemade products cost her less than $80. “They’re actually a lot better than some of the things that I was using,” Pillay said.

Skin-care expert Dr. Lynley McAnalley says you don’t have to break the bank to get good results. “It worked just as good as any exfoliant I’ve ever used,” she said about one product she made and tried. “It’s just as effective, if not more so, and you don’t have the chemicals and additives and things that might irritate your skin that really aren’t necessary.”

McAnalley reviewed the recipes Pillay used and says they’re all safe. In fact, she tried several herself. “I’ve used it on my hands and my feet for a couple weeks, and they’re softer than they have been,” said McAnalley. “I mean, coconut oil is my new best friend!”

Pillay says she may still buy a couple lotions — simply for convenience — but she plans to make many more from scratch. “It was fun, and I’m not done,” she said. “I’ll continue to do it.”

Recipes For DIY Winter Skin Care:

• Winter Face Mask
• Face Moisturizer
• Pumpkin Foot Scrub
• Winter Hand Salve
• Homemade Sugar Scrub
• Tomato Face Scrub
• Hydrating Hair Mask
• Winter Hand Lotion

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Verizon and Coinstar Inc., Redbox’s parent company, said Monday that the service will be national and available to non-Verizon customers as well. It adds another dimension to Verizon’s quest to become a force in home entertainment, and it looks set to compete to some extent with the cable-TV services it already sells.

Unlike competing services from Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Stores Inc., the new service will combine Internet delivery of movies with DVDs, the way Netflix does. Dish Network Corp. also offers a similar bundle through its Blockbuster subsidiary.

Specific details and pricing of the new plan weren’t announced.

Late last year, the companies were shopping around a $6-per-month offering that would give subscribers one DVD rental from Redbox per month as well as unlimited streaming of a certain selection of movies, according to a person briefed on the plan then. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It’s not known whether the plan has changed since then, though the price is likely to be less than the $16-a-month minimum that Netflix subscribers have to pay for a combined DVD-by-mail and streaming plan.

Although consumers would pay less, Redbox’s inventory is limited to what’s in its kiosks, compared with Netflix’s library of more than 100,000 discs, including more obscure fare. Redbox customers will also have to go in person to pick up a disc, which saves the company mailing costs.

Getting an extensive library of streaming content to rival Netflix’s 20,000-plus titles will be expensive. The rising cost for streaming rights is the main reason that Netflix raised its U.S. prices by as much as 60 percent last year in a move that triggered a customer backlash. At the end of 2011, Netflix had video licensing commitments totaling $3.9 billion worldwide over the next several years.

Verizon will handle the streaming negotiations, Coinstar CEO Paul Davis told analysts in a conference call held late Monday to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter earnings. He declined to answer questions seeking more details about how the joint subscription service might work, citing a desire to keep things under wraps for competitive reasons. The streaming service won’t be available until the final half of this year.

Redbox, whose DVD rental kiosks are located in more than 29,000 stores, has been looking to expand into online streaming for more than a year. Its business so far has revolved around renting DVDs for as little as $1.20 per day. Along the way, Redbox says it has accumulated about 36 million email addresses from DVD and video-game renters — information that could be used to promote the new streaming service.

Verizon has its own cable-TV service, called FiOS, in some areas. Its Verizon Wireless subsidiary has also signed a deal to sell service from Comcast Corp. and other cable TV companies in its stores. The cable-TV experience has helped Verizon establish business relationships with Hollywood studios and other content producers, something that could be an advantage in the negotiations for streaming rights.

With the Redbox venture, Verizon is breaking ranks with the cable and satellite industry, which makes its own video streaming services available only to people who also subscribe to its traditional TV feeds. They don’t want households switching to Internet-only services, which are cheaper. Netflix Inc. charges $8 per month for its streaming-only plan, for instance, while the average monthly cable bill is more than $70.

“We’ve made a conscious decision to innovate and get involved with this market because it’s legitimate and growing, and we think the partnership with Redbox gives us huge upside,” said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s consumer business.

Verizon’s own FiOS business is relatively small, with 4.2 million subscribers, making it the seventh-largest provider of TV signals to U.S. homes. Meanwhile, its landline phone business is shrinking, so it needs other avenues for growth. Its wireless arm is growing, but it owns only 55 percent of that venture. (Vodafone Group PLC of Britain owns the rest.)

Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., ended last year with 24.4 million U.S. subscribers. About 8.4 million of those customers pay for Internet streaming and Netflix’s DVD-by-mail rental service.

Verizon and Coinstar said the service is intended to give subscribers access to DVD and Blu-ray discs as well as streaming movies starting in the second half of the year. Subscribers might visit the site to find that the movie they want isn’t available for streaming, but is available at a Redbox kiosk nearby, Coinstar’s Davis said.

To get people to try the service, Verizon and Redbox look set to undercut Netflix’s cheapest DVD and streaming plan of $16 per month, which is 60 percent higher than its $10 monthly rate before prices went up in September.

New York-based Verizon Communications will own 65 percent of the unnamed venture, with Bellevue, Wash.,-based Coinstar owning the rest. Redbox is contributing an initial $14 million to the venture, according to a regulatory filing. It did not say how much Verizon would contribute. The filing indicated the two companies may be called upon to contribute a combined $450 million to the venture — another indication that it will have to pay steep licensing fees.

Coinstar’s stock gained 91 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close Monday at $50.56. The stock then soared more than 16 percent in extended trading late Monday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that indicated Redbox may be picking up some of the Netflix customers who have canceled their DVD rental plans in recent months.

Verizon shares edged up 30 cents to $38.14. After initially falling on the news, Netflix shares gained $2.82, or 2.2 percent, to $129.25.

Netflix already has a couple of powerful competitors with video streaming services. Amazon.com provides a library of movies and TV shows to subscribers to its Amazon Prime shipping services. Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, has a streaming service called Vudu. Neither offers DVD rentals.

Netflix, though, isn’t devoting much attention to its DVD rental service because it’s convinced the discs are destined to become obsolete. Netflix lost 2.8 million DVD subscribers in the final three months of last year alone.

Netflix is hoping to differentiate itself from its rivals with a larger library that is just now starting to include content that hasn’t been available anywhere else. The company’s streaming library consists largely of older movie shows and TV episodes from past seasons. Netflix’s first original TV series, an eight-episode drama called “Lilyhammer,” debuted Monday. Other original TV series are coming in an attempt to make Netflix more competitive with Time Warner Inc.’s pay-TV channel HBO.

The additional competition in Internet streaming comes as Netflix recovers from the customers losses it absorbed last year following its price increase and a botched plan to spin off its DVD service into a separate website.

Redbox now claims to be the biggest DVD rental service in the country.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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