Spa

The signs of trouble around Radcliffe Haughton had been mounting. On Oct. 4, police investigated the 45-year-old from Brown Deer, Wis., on suspicion of slashing his wife's tires in the parking lot where she worked at the Azana Salon and Spa in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. Police arrested Haughton, and his wife secured a temporary restraining order against him a few days later. Then, last Thursday, a court slapped Haughton with a four-year restraining order. Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said Haughton returned to his wife's workplace Sunday morning with a gun and opened fire.

The Red Mountain Resort in Ivins, Utah, racked up awards for top spa last year among readers of Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. It's an all-inclusive fitness hotel on 55 acres about a half hour away from St. George. The deal: The all-inclusive Spring Anticipation package comes with three meals daily, guided morning walks, unlimited fitness classes, free Wi-Fi, healthy cooking demonstrations and access to pools, bicycles and workout studios. It's a great way to stay active while unwinding in this red-rock retreat with 82 rooms and 24 suites.

A manhunt is underway for the shooter who opened fire Sunday morning inside a Wisconsin spa, killing three and injuring at least four others, police said. Authorities believe they have found an improvised explosive device inside the Azana Salon and Spa in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. Bomb units were on the scene. The area, including a nearby shopping mall and country club, were on lockdown. The identities of the dead and injured were not released. An official at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee said four of the injured did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.

I enjoyed Kathleen Doheny's "Leave the Bad Habits Behind" [Healthy Traveler, March 26]. I have also been to several destination spas for vacations, and I agree that these visits can jump-start a change in lifestyle, plus rejuvenate one's soul. But my experience is that it is unrealistic to expect any sort of long-term miracle to occur at the end of a one- or two-week stay. Once a person returns to the real world, the "destination spa effect" tends to be short-lived and usually doesn't return until the next spa vacation.

A Cypress woman was found drowned in her back-yard spa Saturday morning after a neighbor became concerned because the woman failed to answer her telephone or doorbell. Linda Flynn Green, 40, who lives in the 11000 block of Onyx Street, died about 10 p.m. Friday, according to a preliminary report by the Orange County coroner's office. Green, who lived alone, was on a long-term disability because of a back injury. She was last seen by a neighbor Friday afternoon, Cypress Police Sgt.

Elvis was not cooperating. I wanted to raise his back left leg and clean his hoof. Elvis wanted to be left alone. I pinched, prodded and pulled. Elvis remained as rigid as a carousel charger. "Do you rely on charming people?" asked Wyatt Webb, a beefy, bearded, cowboy-therapist who was monitoring my futility. Huh? Sure. I guess so. "Charm's not going to work on a horse," he said. "Stop thinking, and commit to what you're going to do. Walk purposely to him. The last step same as the first.

The victims of an overnight shooting at a Korean health spa in suburban Atlanta were related to each other, supporting the police theory that the murder-suicide was the result of a family dispute. Five people, including the gunman, died in the Tuesday night shooting at the Su Jung Health Sauna in Norcross, Ga., about 15 miles from downtown Atlanta. Two of the victims were sisters of the gunman and the other two were their husbands, police confirmed on Wednesday. The fifth dead person was the shooter.

Massage therapy may hit the spot for people suffering from low back pain. A recent study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that two types of massage--relaxation and structural--improved function and pain for people with low back pain, compared with regular treatment. The study included 401 men and women age 20 to 65 who had nonspecific lower back pain. Two-thirds were randomly assigned to two types of massage: relaxation, or Swedish, massage, non-therapeutic massage not intended for helping with pain; and structural massage, which often concentrates on soft tissue and pain issues.

Five people were dead Wednesday morning after a gunman entered a Korean health spa in suburban Atlanta, got into an argument and then opened fire before turning the weapon on himself. Norcross police were continuing their investigation and were interviewing witnesses after the Tuesday night shooting, officials said. Capt. Brian Harr told the Associated Press the shootings appeared to be “domestic-related.” The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when the unidentified man walked into the Su Jung Health Sauna, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta in Gwinnett County, police said.

Check out the "Spring Training Special Offers" at the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa in Litchfield Park, five miles from the Dodgers' spring training stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The resort has already secured premium infield box seating for Dodgers fans. The deal: One package, called the "Camelback Ranch Spring Training Package: Dodgers," which includes two nights' lodging and two tickets, starts at $399 per room -- or $200 per person pretax, based on double occupancy. I found the package readily available for March 5-7, when the Dodgers play the Chicago White Sox. There are several date options for games March 5-31.