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Holiday books 2023: 50 books that make great gifts from hip hop histories to Christmas ghost stories

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

Christopher Borrelli | Chicago Tribune (TNS)Stephen Nissenbaum, in his terrific 1997 history of the holiday season, “The Battle for Christmas,” goes briefly in search of the very first advertisement for Christmas presents — the Yuletide Patient Zero, if you will — and finds an ad urging Americans to buy a good book at the holidays. The year that advertisement ran: 1806, in New England. Within 50 years, this newspaper was running holiday ads for scarves and silk dresses, but a chunk of its Christmas ads were still for books — velvet-covered Bibles, illustrated travelogues of Italy and more. I like to imagine 19th century Americans knew what wise 21st century Americans know: Books are a perfect gift to wrap if you don’t know how to wrap gifts.That or they understood early on that books were easier to tailor than silk dresses. What follows are the best new books for giving this holiday, organized by the type of people you have on your list. Just remember: Think cleverly designed books....

Patriots-Steelers projected injury report: Rhamondre Stevenson, two receivers out Monday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

The Patriots and Steelers will meet Thursday night in Pittsburgh for an 8:15 p.m. kickoff.In the meantime, both teams released a projected injury report Monday, when neither team practiced.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick reacts surprisingly positively to Bailey Zappe’s performance after Patriots shutout loss New England Patriots | Bill Belichick leaves door open for Matthew Judon’s return to Patriots practice New England Patriots | Patriots defender sounds off on offense, losing streak: ‘It’s f—ing frustrating’ New England Patriots | Callahan: How much worse can the boring Patriots get? New England Patriots | Source: Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson to undergo MRI to confirm ankle sprain Had the Patriots taken the field, running back Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) would have been out with receivers Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte, per the team. Left tack...

Boston woman killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas: Reports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

A Boston woman was killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas on Monday, according to police.The woman was paddleboarding at the Sandals resort, about three-quarters of a mile from shore when she was bitten by a shark, police said at a press conference. She was paddleboarding with a male relative.After she was bitten by the shark, a lifeguard went out in a rescue boat and retrieved both the woman and her male relative.“CPR was administered to the victim; however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip region and also her right upper limb,” a Royal Bahamas Police Force officer said from the scene.Emergency medical services responded and “thoroughly assessed” the victim.“They declared that she showed no vital signs of life,” the police representative said.Related ArticlesLocal News | A shark barrier along Cape Cod was reportedly successful in deterring great white sharks Local ...

Tab lovers hope to convince Coca-Cola to revive the once popular diet soda

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

Rodney Ho | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)Coca-Cola discontinued its once groundbreaking Tab diet soda three years ago and a hardy group of fans are actively trying to get the company to bring it back to retail shelves.Last month, on a sunny fall Friday, a dozen of them from all over the country gathered at the World of Coca-Cola Museum and handed over a petition with 6,500 names and several handwritten pleas to a Coke executive, who came over from headquarters less than a mile away.“We thought it would be fun to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Tab in Atlanta,” said Adam Burbach, a 41-year-old Lincoln, Nebraska resident who organized the trip.The group went on a VIP tour of the museum, then spent more than 30 minutes in the dispensary room featuring hundreds of sodas from around the world. Why? There also happened to be six dispensers of Tab.It’s one of the few places left in the world to actually taste Tab besides a Coca-Cola store in Las Vegas and Disneyland in Anaheim, ...

Mookie Betts to be Dodgers’ everyday second baseman

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

If the Red Sox needed another reason to regret trading Mookie Betts, they just got one.Their erstwhile homegrown star, already a six-time Gold Glove winner in the first ten years of his Major League career, is shifting to the Dodgers’ infield.“It’s pretty safe to say that Mookie Betts is going to be our everyday second baseman,” Los Angeles manager (and 2004 Red Sox hero) Dave Roberts told High Heat’s Alanna Rizzo.Boston drafted Betts as a second baseman in 2011, and he played 230 minor league games at the position. It was largely due to Dustin Pedroia’s Gold Glove grasp that, as a top prospect, he first shifted to the outfield before his Major League debut in June 2014. He played centerfield and shortstop in high school, but Xander Bogaerts had debuted the previous summer, and locked down the latter.“I think it’s going to be fun, if they do move me,” Betts told the Herald at the time. “I enjoy learning new things.”Af...

Holiday Cookie Contest 2023: Get the winning recipes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

Chicago Tribune staffAfter almost four decades, Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest bakers continue to submit delicious, yet sometimes surprisingly simple recipes that readers turn to year after year.The winners of this year’s 37th annual contest are no different, and they stunned a cadre of guest judges to boot. Below, find recipes for Graham Cracker Praline, the first-place winner from Kathy Evertsberg of Winnetka; Chewy Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies from second-place winner and Chicagoan Clarissa Frayn; and our third-place winner, Coconut Tassies from Mary Kim of Chicago. To learn more about how they created these recipes, read the story here.[ Get the book: 25 years of award-winning Holiday Cookie Contest recipes ]Happy baking!First place: Graham Cracker PralineGraham Cracker Pralines, the first place winner in the Chicago Tribune holiday cookie contest Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)These cookies bring back memories of baking with my grandmother Grace Vander...

In face of threats, election workers vow: ‘You are not disrupting the democratic process’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

Matt Vasilogambros | Stateline.org (TNS)Hundreds of election workers in Washington state’s second-largest county were busy opening mail-in ballots earlier this month when one of them came across a plain white envelope. As she cut it open, white powder leaked out.She carefully took off her gloves, put them down, backed away and called her supervisor. Workers evacuated the building and waited for the Tacoma Fire Department to arrive. While first responders tested the substance, Democratic and Republican observers gathered at the emergency management center looking at security feeds of the election office to ensure there wasn’t any ballot tampering.Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer, the nonpartisan election official for the metropolitan area south of Seattle, said she felt lucky no one got hurt.“We’ve got a really strong, resilient workforce,” she said, choking up in an interview with Stateline. “Nobody left. They were a little shaken up, understandably unsure of what was going on. Bu...

Raising Cane's bringing 'craveable' chicken to new Imperial Beach location

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — South Bay chicken finger enthusiasts will soon have a new spot to feast as Raising Canes is set to open their first Imperial Beach location this week.The popular restaurant chain — known for its southern fried chicken tenders, crinkle cut fries, Texas toast and mouthwatering sauce — will be hosting a grand opening for the new location on Tuesday, Dec. 5. It will be the brand's eighth brick-and-mortar eatery in San Diego County.Located at 900 Palm Avenue, the new Raising Canes restaurant can be found in the Imperial Shopping Center, right off State Route 75. According to a spokesperson for the brand, the new location will have both indoor walk-up and drive-thru options. Three San Diego-area eateries among best new restaurants in US: Esquire The Imperial Beach spot will be open every day from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. — the first of all 750 Raising Cane's restaurants to have these expanded hours." … whether Customers are en route to catching waves at nearby Imperial ...

Canada’s climate lobby pushes for oil, gas emissions cap with fashion statement

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s climate lobby wants its demand for an oil-and-gas emissions cap to go straight to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s head.Dozens of Canada’s environmental activists are wandering around the event sites at COP28 in Dubai sporting matching baseball hats with the word “emissions” on the front.The fashion-statement “emissions caps” have become a must-have souvenir of the global climate talks, though only a couple of hundred exist.The head of Climate Action Network Canada gifted one to Guilbeault in the opening hours of COP28, but she says she told Guilbeault he cannot wear it yet.Caroline Brouillette says he is only allowed to put it on if he finally publishes the framework for his government’s long-promised cap on greenhouse-gas emissions from the oil-and-gas sector.She says Guilbeault laughed as he accepted the gift, and told her he would be surprised if he isn’t wearing it before the talks end on Dec. 12.Th...

Charges dropped against Quebec theatre owner and ‘Dragon’s Den’ star Vincenzo Guzzo

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s prosecution service says it has abandoned criminal charges against Vincenzo Guzzo, CEO of a large independent movie theatre chain and investor on CBC Television’s “Dragon’s Den.”Service spokeswoman Patricia Johnson says new evidence has led prosecutors to doubt whether there is a reasonable chance of conviction.Guzzo, the CEO of movie theatre chain Cinemas Guzzo, had been charged with criminal harassment and breach of condition.In a written statement, Guzzo thanked those who supported him, especially his five children, through what he described as a “difficult period.”He says the complaint that led to his arrest took place in the context of a family dispute.Following his June arrest, Guzzo had said the matter was related to himself, “my wife and our lawyers.”This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2023. The Canadian Press