Scavenger hunt, good deeds mix (The Argus Leader)
"Bring your cell phone, about $50 in cash and as many snow shovels as you think you need. Then find Mr. Bendo. Drive carefully." As a Christmas command, this lacks the traditional resonance of "deck the halls with boughs of holly." But as an invitation to the Christmas spirit, it was hard to beat. It is the phone message Jeff Gould used to signal the start of his annual The AmazinGrace, an event ...

Greg Kot: Top Chicago albums of 2008 (Chicago Tribune)

Has local astronomer found Christmas Star? (Hastings Gazette)
WE see it every year around this time, blazing brightly overhead.

The Christmas Star - Fact or Fiction? (Universe Today)
'Tis the season… And every year around this time people notice the brilliant 'star' to the west just after sunset. For astronomers, we know it's the appearance of the planet Venus, but noticing it for the average person brings on questions about the holidays. Was the Christmas Star real? (...)Read the [...]

Ex-MUMN officials in drive to change union leadership (Times of Malta)
Eight former council members of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses will be raising a petition to hold an extraordinary general meeting to change the union's leadership.