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Books for fall 2023: Our 75 top picks for serious reading season — and there’s plenty of light stuff here too

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

Christopher Borrelli | Chicago Tribune (TNS)Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that we keep treating the seasons as clearly delineated stretches of time? I love fall, and particularly that lineal moment right before fall gets chilly, that promise of fall. But this is the fall book preview, and though I should be excited to tell you of weeks of incredible titles coming — Walter Isaacson on Elon Musk, Zadie Smith on historical fiction, Sly Stone (!) on himself — climatologists warn that summer may linger until Groundhog Day.You know the saying: So many books, so little time? What follows are way too many books to read before Groundhog Day, never mind Thanksgiving. To make matters worse, Chicago keeps opening new bookstores. Fall was already too short. Fall never needed to be shorter. Fall, the most overstuffed of reading seasons, the time of the year when it is said that we become serious readers again, already felt like some melancholy art installation of a season, designed to r...

Violin great Regina Carter is an end-of-life doula when not recording, touring or teaching

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

George Varga | The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS)A jazz doula?Violin great Regina Carter has earned worldwide acclaim — and national awards and honors — for her musical skill, vision and ability to shine as a soloist, band leader, composer and first-call collaborator for everyone from Dolly Parton, Wynton Marsalis and Billy Joel to Mary J. Blige, Cuba’s Omara Portuondo and various symphony orchestras.But few know about the selfless musical pursuit of this 2023 NEA Jazz Masters honoree, 2006 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient and Manhattan School of Music faculty member.When Carter is not touring, recording or teaching, she works as a violin-playing doula with critically ill patients in their final months, weeks and days.“I love that I get to travel the world playing this music,” said Carter. “But I also use my music not only to play on stage, but to do hospice and end-of-life work. Using my music for that is extremely rewarding. I usually do i...

A railroad worker died after being struck by a remote-controlled train. Unions have concerns

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

A railroad worker died over the weekend after he was struck by a remote-controlled train in a CSX railyard in Ohio, raising concerns among unions about such technology.The death highlights the need for an in-depth review of the use of remote-controlled locomotives, the Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen said in a news release Sunday. Every major railroad has used such locomotives inside, and increasingly outside of, railyards across the country for years.The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the death, which happened shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in Walbridge, Ohio. Spokesperson Keith Holloway said the worker was struck and fatally injured when he walked into the path of a moving locomotive that was being operated by remote control.Fred Anderson is the third carman killed in an incident involving a remote-controlled locomotive, the unions said.“Enough is enough. A full-scale review of the use and practices around remote-control l...

Speaker McCarthy is running out of options to stop a shutdown as conservatives balk at a new plan

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy is running out of options as he races Monday to come up with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down as even a proposal to include hardline border security provisions wasn’t enough to appease the far-right flank in his Republican House majority. The speaker told his Republican conference that they should be prepared to stay through this weekend to pass a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open past the Sept. 30 deadline. But many are already bracing for the heavy political fallout of a federal shutdown.“I’ve told all of Congress you’re not going to go home. We’re going to continue to work through this,” McCarthy said Monday at the Capitol. “Things that are tough sometimes are worth it.”He also suggested that time is still on his side and panned the idea of compromising with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there were “a l...

Kim Petras surprise releases previously shelved debut album ‘Problematique,’ featuring Paris Hilton

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Petras fans, the wait is over. The Grammy-award winning German popstar has surprise released her previously shelved and partially leaked debut album, “Problematique.”Across 10 tracks inspired by French house music released Monday, Petras’ makes a bold reclamation of her artistic autonomy: from the funk-y “Born Again,” to the smooth retro-pop of “Dirty Things” and the playfully materialistic “All She Wants,” which features “Stars Are Blind” singer Paris Hilton.“It was shocking when I found out part of the album leaked — at the time — that it wasn’t ever going to come out, especially as I poured so much of myself into it. I was heartbroken but, at the same time, it was really exciting to see my fans listening to the tracks and loving them,” Petras said in a statement to The Associated Press.“Now that I’m able to put them out, it’s just so freeing to have more music that I love out in the world and officially share them in a way that all my fans can hear th...

Pastor gets 60-day sentence for role in Alberta border blockade

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A Calgary pastor has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for his role in protests against COVID-19 public health measures that blocked Alberta’s main Canada-U.S. border crossing for more than two weeks. But a judge in Lethbridge, Alta., gave Artur Pawlowski 60 days’ credit for time already served.Justice Gordon Krinke said Monday that Pawlowski was not involved in the planning of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” and didn’t play a major role with his appearance at the border blockade. “Probation would serve no useful purpose as the accused does not believe he did anything wrong. He is not remorseful for the harm he has caused,” Krinke, with the Alberta Court of Justice, said in his decision. “Both the Crown and the defence are proposing a period of incarceration and I accept that. A period of incarceration is required in order to achieve the objectives of denunciation and deterrence.”In May, Pawlowski was found gui...

Oil execs at World Petroleum Congress see global demand growing, not falling

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

CALGARY — Chief executives of the some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies are meeting in Canada this week, united in their stance that “peak oil” isn’t about to put them out of business anytime soon.Against the backdrop of benchmark prices for West Texas Intermediate crude topping US$90 per barrel, the highest since November of last year, executives and government officials from around the world are gathering in Calgary for the 24th World Petroleum Congress.The event is one of the largest oil-and-gas conferences in the world, and has not been held in Canada since 2000.While the industry is under far greater pressure now than it was then to address its role in fueling climate change — 2022 was the hottest summer on record, according to climate scientists, and marred by wildfires and floods around the world — oil-and-gas leaders remain bullish on the future of their industry.“Today if you ask me … I would see around 110 million barrels per...

Undo Line 5 shutdown order, federal government’s filing urges U.S. appeals court

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

WASHINGTON — Shutting down Line 5 would cause Canada “grave harm” and violate its treaty rights, government lawyers argued Monday as the federal government rejoined the legal fray over the controversial cross-border oil and gas pipeline.An amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit marked Ottawa’s first foray into the ongoing legal dispute in Wisconsin, and its second since Michigan mounted a similar challenge in 2020.A Wisconsin court order issued in June gave Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. just three years — and not a day more — to reroute the pipeline around territory belonging to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Enbridge’s operations on Bad River territory “must cease” on June 16, 2026, regardless of whether the 66-kilometre detour around the reserve is complete, Wisconsin district court Judge William Conley ruled. Both sides are now appealing that decision. Canada has long argued that any court-ordered...

Pedestrian struck, killed on North Side during crash

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

CHICAGO — A pedestrian was struck and killed Monday morning on the North Side during a crash involving two vehicles.A Volkswagen Touareg, driven by an 18-year-old man, was traveling eastbound in the 2700 block of West Peterson at around 7:30 a.m. Police believe the man continued through a red light, striking a Nissan Sentra, driven by an 18-year-old woman.One of the vehicles then struck a pedestrian on the sidewalk. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Couple, 2 children, 3 dogs found dead inside Romeoville home: police The driver of the second vehicle was transported to St. Francis in fair condition. The driver who police believe caused the crash was issued a citation for failure to yield.CPD said detectives are continuing to investigate.

O'Hare looking for Traveler's Aid Chicago volunteers

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:53:33 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago O'Hare International Airport is looking for volunteers who want to give back during the upcoming holiday season. More than a hundred people are needed to staff information desks for Traveler's Aid Chicago, a social service agency run by the Heartland Alliance. The volunteers assist more than half a million passengers who travel through the airport's terminals annually by providing resources and social referrals. Resources include providing directions, sharing information about the airport and Chicago and helping passengers who are lost, confused, or in crisis.  USPS holding 7 job fairs in Chicago area this week "Travelers Aid volunteers come from many of Chicago's 77 neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs, and all share one main goal — to enhance the customer experience at O'Hare International Airport," said John Ishu, director of Travelers Aid Chicago. "Our volunteers passionately assist passengers from every corner of the world and are an invaluable part of the ...