Crack the case of the scrumptious snickerdoodle

Colorado low blow: flood fears rise as Manitoba faces yet another weather warning

Forecasters are saying with certainty another Colorado low will hit southern Manitoba this weekend, putting flood-hit municipalities — including four already in local states of emergency — on high alert.

The third such event in as many weeks is set to arrive Friday and linger through Sunday, with the bulk of the rain falling Saturday, said Natalie Hasell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“There is agreement to the point where, yes, a Colorado low is coming, but exactly what it will mean for southern Manitoba is unclear,” she said Wednesday. “I hope people are prepared for another uncomfortable weekend.”

As municipalities filled sandbags and pumped standing water, weather models still disagreed on the storm’s track.

Teemu Selanne living the good life in southern California

LAGUNA BEACH — He likes his coffee black. His steak “medium rare plus.” And he’s an extremely generous pour, especially when it comes to a Moscow mule.

His left knee is giving him all sorts of trouble these days, he’s admittedly almost always running behind schedule and his biggest pride and joy are his four children, who keep him and his wife Sirpa hopping with their numerous athletic pursuits.

He is Teemu Selanne, the beloved Winnipeg Jets legend who, you’ll be happy to know, is still living the good life just a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean in this little piece of southern California paradise.

Despite being nearly eight years removed from the end of a Hall of Fame hockey career, the Finnish Flash remains a big deal around here. That was clear as we sat down earlier this week for an exclusive chat inside “Selanne’s Steak Tavern” — a high-end eatery he owns that sits along the stunning Pacific Coast Highway.

Crack the case of the scrumptious snickerdoodle

You won’t need to solve a mystery to make the cookies for Day 11 of the Free Press’s 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.

Selkirk murder-mystery novelist Maureen Flynn shares her recipe for Snickerdoodles but there are no plot twists that will spook you while you mix the batter and there is nothing hiding in the oven when you open the door to put them in to bake.

“These ones are kind of soft and fluffy ones. They’re kind of like a sugar cookie only with a little bit of cinnamon taste. You roll them in cinnamon before you cook them,” Flynn says.

Flynn specializes in mysteries that come with a ghost story in the centre — particularly Winnipeg ghost stories. Her latest, Pick Up Sticks, which Flynn released in October, highlights the spectres that purportedly make their home in one of Western Canada’s oldest buildings: the Burton Cummings Theatre.

Truckers convoy: How a TikToker, oil advocates and a Wexit organizer helped fire up the ‘Freedom Rally’ that’s heading to Ottawa

A GoFundMe raised more than $3 million to help the truckers with fuel, food and lodging.

Imperialist crusades: 21st-century style

In the 11th century and lasting into the 13th, the papacy launched a series of at least eight military campaigns we now refer to as the Crusades, or Holy Wars. They were an imperialistic call to arms for Christians to retake Jerusalem, which was at the time under Muslim rule.

Spiritual rewards for participation were implied, and other incentives offered, to dull the extra taxation demanded to fund the campaigns. Over time, the “crusades” morphed to become massacres of not only Muslims but also Jews and Christian dissidents — in other words, any enemies of the papacy. If today’s news sounds like déjà vu all over again, it probably should.

The stories keep repeating themselves in many forms. We now know that two 20th century world wars, global in scope, were caused by imperialistic ambitions, changes in the balance of international powers and corresponding arms races. The first was attributed to the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a Bosnian Serb, a kind of “regime change” initiative. The second resulted from rising tensions between Allied and Axis powers, triggered by the rise of European fascism and Japanese militarism. The human toll of both was unimaginable.

In the First World War, 15 to 22 million people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed and another 23 million were wounded. These numbers do not account for those otherwise affected — victims of chemical warfare whose compromised health shortened their lives; of the subsequent Spanish flu epidemic amplified by the displacement of peoples; others who died from other diseases caused by war conditions; and those who were malnourished or starved. Nor do they account for the ongoing trauma and resentments passed on intergenerationally to this day.

Province changes Thompson ‘Vaxport’ plan

The Manitoba government has changed its plans for a vaccination "super site" for the North — just days after it was announced — after local officials argued the original proposal was unworkable.

Some northern residents will still get their COVID-19 shots at Thompson's airport, but "Vaxport" will be less super than originally planned, providing injections only to residents of fly-in communities.

Most northern residents will get their shots at the Thompson Community Recreation Centre, which is centrally located in the city of about 13,000.

"This makes much more sense logistically, and for the citizens of Thompson," Mayor Colleen Smook said Thursday after touring the airport site, which is located 10 kilometres from the city and isn't serviced by public transportation.