Manitoba park a star-gazing star, Canadian astronomical society declares

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions until after 10:45 a.m. After that, the moon moves from Libra into Scorpio.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You have a choice. You can either get embroiled in disputes about shared property, debt, insurance issues or inheritances; or instead, relax and have a playful day featuring sporting events, social outings and fun activities with kids.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Jets encouraged by play through first five games

Turkey. Stuffing. And a heaping helping of rest and recovery.

The Winnipeg Jets have plenty to be thankful for this holiday weekend, including a solid 3-1-1 start to the NHL campaign. Players and coaches are also counting their blessings at finally getting a breather after a busy stretch of five games in eight days.

“We don’t have another (break like this) until a week before Christmas. So we’re going to take advantage of it,” head coach Scott Arniel said following the club’s first regulation loss, a 5-1 stinker on Friday night against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

To borrow a funny old Thanksgiving-related phrase from former defenceman Nate Schmidt, the hockey club was “leaking gravy.” They looked like a group that could use a timeout — which they’ll get since they don’t play again until hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Manitoba park a star-gazing star, Canadian astronomical society declares

Spruce Woods Provincial Park is being recognized for having some of the best star-gazing environments in southern Manitoba.

Piece of Winnipeg’s magic history disappears

A piece of Winnipeg’s magic history has vanished, and internationally renowned escape artist Dean Gunnarson is offering a $500 reward to anyone who can make it reappear.

The plaque marked the birthplace of what has become the world’s largest organization of professional and amateur magicians, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, which was founded in Winnipeg more than a century ago.

Gunnarson said fellow magician and local magic historian Bruce Thompson discovered the disappearance Tuesday while on his way to work.

Thompson returned to inspect the site and found what appeared to be evidence it had been forcibly removed.

Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.

The hurricane's center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its maximum sustained winds weakened late Sunday to 115 mph (185 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.

That’s not good news for people in and around Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.

By late Sunday, Simon's eye was moving northwest about 45 miles (75 kilometers) south of Cabo Corrientes at about 5 mph (7 kph). A senior hurricane center specialist, Philippe Papin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Pacific.