Sep. 11--Q: I love Dr. Oz, who has been on "Oprah" and who's now getting his own show. What is his background? Is he married? is he going to give up his practice in Chicago? -- B.H., Fayetteville

A: Mehmet Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon and healthy-living proponent who's been featured on numerous media outlets.

Chief among them is Oprah Winfrey's show, which, as with Dr. Phil, has provided Oz with the launching pad for his own syndicated talk show. It debuts Monday.

Called "Dr. Oz," it'll be all about health. Oz has said he wants to make health information interesting and entertaining without trivializing it. His show will air weekdays in the Raleigh-Durham market on WRAZ at 5 p.m. and on WRAL at 2:07 a.m.

Oz is a 49-year-old native of Cleveland. He actually practices now in New York, not Chicago, and lives in northern New Jersey. He's a professor of surgery at Columbia University Medical Center and directs the university's Cardiovascular Institute. He's also clinical vice chairman of cardiovascular services and medical director of the integrative medicine program at Columbia.

Oz now performs 250 heart operations each year. He plans to continue performing surgery one day a week.

He's married and has four children. -- C.P.

Q: The person with the high water bill may have a hard-to-find leak. -- B.M., Fayetteville, and M.P., Fayetteville

A: Both B.M. and M.P. know of situations like one mentioned in a recent Live Wire column. In both situations, it was eventually learned that hard-to-see leaks were at fault.

B.M. said her daughter's water bill tripled but no one could identify a leak at first. Eventually, they figured out the hot water heater had a slow leak. It was replaced and the water bill returned to normal.

M.P. said she thought the PWC folks were "crazy" when she got a bill saying she'd used 30,000 gallons of water in a month. But a plumber found a break in a water pipe under her house. M.P. had to pay for that water but, since she could prove it had gone into the ground, not the sewers, she said that part of her bill was forgiven. -- C.P.

Q: How can I contact Cindy McCain? -- D.M., Fayetteville

A: Write her in care of her husband's main office in Arizona.

Sen. John McCain's staff will forward your letter. The address is 5353 North 16th St., Suite 105, Phoenix, AZ 85016.

Cindy McCain has been speaking out recently about her problems with migraines. More than 30 million Americans suffer from the debilitating headaches. -- C.P.

Live Wire seeks to answer questions of general interest and consumer topics within two weeks. Initials are used to identify questioners when names are given. Contact Live Wire at livewire@fayobserver.com, http://blogs.fayobserver.com/livewire or 486-3516. Get your complete news report daily in The Fayetteville Observer: Subscribe to the print edition

-----

To see more of The Fayetteville Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fayettevillenc.com/.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.