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Holiday Cookie Contest 2023: Get the winning recipes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 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 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 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 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 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 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 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 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 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

A deer broke into a New Jersey elementary school. Its escape was caught on police bodycams

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 GMT

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey elementary school had an unexpected visitor over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend: A deer jumped through a small window and knocked over items in a classroom before fleeing the building.A man walking his dog around 10 p.m. on Nov. 25 saw the young deer smash through a window at Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River, which is about 60 miles east (96.5 kilometers) of Philadelphia. The man notified police, and their subsequent search of the school was recorded by the officers’ bodycams.When officers encountered the deer in a stairwell, the animal — who police have nicknamed “Rudolph” — initially charged at them as it ran down a hallway. It then entered a classroom by opening a door that happened to be unlatched and jumped onto a bookshelf, scattering some items — but it didn’t cause any major damage.The officers eventually used a dog snare to get the deer out of the classroom, and it soon fled the building the same way it got in. A...

Illinois halts construction of Chicago winter migrant camp while it reviews soil testing at site

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration halted construction Monday of a temporary winter camp for migrants in Chicago while the state reviews the removal of soil contaminants at the former industrial site.The review, which a spokesperson for the governor said wouldn’t take long, comes with hundreds of migrants bused to the state from Texas over the past year still living inside of or in front of city police stations or at Chicago’s busiest airport.The city released a study Friday from Chicago consultant Terracon that detailed the discovery and removal of sections of soil from the site in the Brighton Park neighborhood that contained higher-than-expected levels of mercury.“Soil with mercury levels was identified at one location and was removed and properly disposed offsite at a landfill,” Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a statement. “With the limited soil removal and placement and maintenance of the barrier, the site is safe for temporary...

MP Han Dong, federal Conservatives, NDP to take part in foreign interference inquiry

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Politicians Han Dong and Michael Chan, the federal government and the commissioner of Canada elections are among those granted standing in the factual phase of a public inquiry into foreign interference.The federal Conservative and New Democratic parties, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, Sen. Yuen Pau Woo and several others, meanwhile, will be interveners in the factual phase.Groups including the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for International Governance Innovation will be among the participants in the policy phase of the inquiry.Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue announced the decisions today after sifting through dozens of applications from citizens, associations, organizations, academics, politicians and political parties who want to be heard at the inquiry.The Liberal government announced in September that Hogue would lead a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference and the federal capacity to address the issue.Hogue, a ...

Argentina’s outgoing government rejects EU-Mercosur trade deal, but incoming administration backs it

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s outgoing government said Monday it won’t support the signing of a long-delayed trade deal between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur during a summit this week in Brazil even thought the incoming Argentine government has expressed support for the deal.Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said the agreement as currently written would restrict Argentinian exports. “It is a bad agreement that has a negative impact on manufacturing and agricultural exports,” Cafiero said in an interview with a local radio station, excerpts of which were later released by the Argentine Foreign Ministry.Argentina’s position goes against that of neighbor Brazil, which holds the presidency of Mercosur, and Spain, which holds the presidency of the EU. Both have expressed a desire to move forward with the trade treaty during the summit Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.The Argentine opposition may be short-lived, though. The incoming administrat...

Governor rebukes Philadelphia protesters for chanting outside Israeli restaurant

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:45:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Protesters marching in Philadelphia against the bombardment of Gaza chanted about genocide Sunday outside an Israeli-style restaurant, leading Gov. Josh Shapiro to call the demonstration “antisemitic.” In Philadelphia’s Center City and University City neighborhoods, hundreds of people marched to criticize Israel’s military actions in Gaza, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. However, it was unclear why some specifically protested the restaurant. A video of demonstrators outside of Goldie Falafel depicted people chanting, “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” which garnered backlash from the Democratic governor.Shapiro first addressed the protest on X, formerly known as Twitter. Later Monday, appearing at an unrelated event in suburban Philadelphia, the governor said he was in touch with Michael Solomonov, one of the restaurant’s owners, to make sure he and his staff know that the governor will support them. Solomonov is a prom...