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More Americans prioritizing live entertainment and ticketed events this year, study shows

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

By Laurie Baratti, TravelPulseA new market research study from shows that more Americans are prioritizing live entertainment and ticketed events like sporting competitions, music concerts and theatrical productions.Allianz Partners USA’s 15th Annual Vacation Confidence Index survey found that nearly two-thirds of Americans plan on attending a ticketed event this year, while one-fifth expect to attend three or more such events.The leading trip and ticket insurance company’s latest research revealed that 63 percent of Americans polled plan on going to at least one ticketed event in 2023, a rise of three percentage points from last year and eight points from 2021, signaling U.S. audiences’ ongoing interest in attending live engagements. Respondents who plan on attending at least three such in-person events constituted 20 percent of the surveyed group, which is the same percentage as last year, but up three points from 2021.In terms of which types of ticketed events they’re planning to ...

Patrick Mahomes admits helping Travis Kelce show off for Taylor Swift

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes confessed he helped Travis Kelce show off for Taylor Swift.The pop music superstar appeared to answer questions about her alleged romance with Kelce by sitting with the star tight end’s mom during Sunday’s Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears.Mahomes confessed in a post-game interview he was aware the “Love Story” singer was in the stands and wanted her to see Kelce score a touchdown.“I heard she was in the house,” Mahomes said. “I felt a little bit of pressure. I knew I had to get it to Trav.”Kelce scored on a 3-yard pass halfway through the second quarter of the Chiefs’ 41-10 pummeling of the Bears.“I think he wanted to get in the end zone as much as all the Swifties wanted him to,” Mahomes said.The two-time Super Bowl MVP said he hasn’t met Swift, but expects to if she and Kelce are an item. According to Mahomes, Kelce told him before the game that Swift might be in attendance. He wasn’t sure his sometimes stoic teammate was serious...

From early vaqueros to 21st century: San Diego author explores history of ‘Latinxs in Hawaii’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

Lisa Deaderick | The San Diego Union-TribuneIt was during the research for his dissertation and first book that Rudy Guevarra Jr. noticed something — he was hearing more and more people speaking Spanish while traveling in the Hawaiian Islands. His research came out of his own experience growing up both Mexican and Filipino in San Diego, leading him to and from Hawaii to trace a history of migration and mixing of cultures between Latinos and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.“Though increasing with new migrations, the Latinx population is not new to the Hawaiian Islands. On the contrary, Latinxs have been voyaging to the Hawaiian archipelago for 190 years, yet their presence has been rendered invisible by the tourist industry and within the larger local population,” he says in an excerpt from the first chapter of his most recent book, “Aloha Compadre: Latinxs in Hawaii,” which he will discuss in a special presentation at 6 p.m. Friday at Miramar College, a...

‘Young Love’ review: Oscar-winning short becomes an animated series on Max

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

By Nina Metz, Chicago TribuneNearly dialogue-free, the Oscar-winning, six-minute 2019 animated short “Hair Love” from Matthew A. Cherry was inspired by videos on social media of Black fathers caring for their children’s hair. With the new series “Young Love,” Cherry has expanded that premise to focus on the close-knit family at the story’s center with a 12-episode animated comedy for Max.Mom is Angela (Issa Rae) and she’s a hair stylist who is picking her life back up after an illness. Dad is Stephen, a struggling music producer (Scott Mescudi, aka the rapper Kid Cudi) who has been holding down the fort in the meantime. They live on the West Side of Chicago — specifically a tree-lined stretch in West Garfield Park — and share a multifamily home with their six-year-old daughter Zuri (Brooke Conaway), a spirited kid who isn’t afraid to assert herself, or her preferences. They’re upstairs. Downstairs are the grandparents (Loretta Devine and Harry Lennix).The show zeros in on the kinds ...

Quick Fix: Festive veggie fajitas filled with meaty mushrooms

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News ServiceMeaty mushrooms sauteed with onion, bell peppers and pinto beans fill tortillas to make vegetarian fajitas, creating a festive Mexican dinner. I like to serve all the ingredients at the table and let diners fill their own tortillas.There are a few different ways to warm tortillas. It’s easy to place them in a microwave oven on a plate and covered with a slightly damp paper towel. They can also be warmed in a 200-degree-Fahrenheit oven or in a skillet for 30 seconds. The secret is, once they’re warmed, to keep them wrapped in a napkin or foil.Helpful hints:You can use any type of tortilla.You can use any type of mushroom.You can use black or red kidney beans instead of pinto beans.You can use prepared taco sauce instead of fajita sauce.Countdown:Prepare all ingredients.Saute onion and then add remaining vegetables.Warm tortillas.Set the ingredients in bowls on the table along with the warm tortillas.Shopping List:To buy: 1 red onion, 1 red b...

Democratic Sen. Menendez rejects calls to resign and says cash found in home was not bribe proceeds

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

By DEEPTI HAJELA and MIKE CATALINI (Associated Press)UNION CITY, N.J. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey defiantly pushed back against federal corruption charges on Monday, saying nearly half a million dollars in cash authorities found in his home was from his personal savings, not from bribes, and was on hand for emergencies.Rejecting rising calls for him to resign, the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he believed he’d be cleared of charges that he took cash and gold in illegal exchange for helping Egypt and New Jersey business associates.“I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet, but as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator,” Menendez said at Hudson County Community College’s campus in Union City, where he grew up.He did not respond to questions ...

3 teenagers were fatally shot in South Carolina, and a schoolmate has been arrested

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two people showed up at an abandoned house where four teenagers were hanging out and opened fire, killing three of them and wounding the fourth in an escalation of an old quibble over a burglary, authorities said Monday in Columbia, South Carolina.A 17-year-old Eau Claire High School student was arrested on three counts of murder, one of attempted murder and possessing a weapon during a violent crime, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Monday at a news conference. Officials are still looking for “some other people,” he said.The teenagers who were killed also attended Eau Claire High School, according to a statement from Craig Witherspoon, the district superintendent. The lone survivor attended a nearby middle school.The district provided additional counseling and security at the high school Monday in response to the “unimaginable tragedy,” which Witherspoon decried as “senseless gun violence.”Sheriff’s deputies responded to the shooting in Columbia, the sta...

Head of Alta commission on Rocky Mountain coal mining concerned over new applications

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

At least two members of the group that recommended a pause on coal mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains are concerned the province’s regulator appears to have accepted applications to renew a project that has already been denied.Last week, the Australia-based company Northback Holdings resurrected a proposal for the Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal mine in southern Alberta, applying for three licences from the Alberta Energy Regulator.That’s despite the project being denied by both Alberta and Ottawa, as well as a provincial order that forbids any coal activity on those lands. Ron Wallace and Bill Trafford, both members of the committee that recommended the pause to the government, are concerned those applications violate both the spirit and letter of the order that enacted that moratorium. Trafford says he can’t see how the regulator can accept the applications and move forward on them without violating government policy.Wallace, who headed the commission in ...

Security forces rescue 14 students abducted from Nigerian university

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Security forces rescued 14 out of at least 20 students abducted from a university in northwestern Nigeria and were searching for the remaining captives, school authorities said MondayGunmen attacked the school in the hard-hit Zamfara state’s Bungudu district last week and fled with the students and some workers in the first mass school abduction in the West African nation since President Bola Tinubu took office in May.Such abductions of students from schools are common in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions where armed groups often take people hostage in exchange for huge ransoms which analysts have said help them to buy guns and sustain their operations.The 14 students from the Federal University Gusau were rescued alongside two other people, a statement from the university said, without further details about when they were freed or the nature of the rescue operation. “The sad and unfortunate incident has indeed thrown the University community into serious...

JJ Johnson’s recipe for Collard Greens and Rice Soup

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:44:31 GMT

Chef JJ Johnson created this soup so that he could incorporate some of the most basic ingredients he loves in one pot. Potlikker is the term for the juice left from cooking seasoned collard greens, and that’s what he used here to build the broth. Revered in Southern cooking, potlikker is super-flavorful and packed with vitamins and minerals. It was originally eaten for its nutritional value by enslaved people on Southern plantations, and to this day some people drink it straight.The paprika adds a hint of smokiness, and finishing it with sherry vinegar gives the soup a bit of tang. You can find bunches of collard greens at the grocery store or farmers’ market, or buy it pre-cut in a bag to make this simple recipe even quicker. After you add the collards and rice, the soup becomes thicker and less brothy. Any leftovers freeze well for future meals.COLLARD GREENS AND RICE SOUPActive Cook Time: 50 minutesServes: 4INGREDIENTS¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil1 medium white onion, finely chopp...