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NEW YORK -- A month after “Encanto” debuted in theaters, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the movie's Colombia-inflected songs, took a long vacation. By the time he returned, something almost as extraordinary as the enchanted home of the movie had transpired. Source

When DerRic Starlight learned the reboot of one of his favourite childhood shows, Fraggle Rock, was starting production in Calgary in January 2021, you could say it was his destiny to work on it. But you wouldn't know it given his first crack at a position. Source

THE ICE AGE ADVENTURES OF BUCK WILD: 3 STARS For better and for worse, the “Ice Age” franchise seems to have been around longer than the actual Ice Age. With the latest entry, “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,” which is number six in the series and stars the voice of Simon Pegg on Disney+, the movies are starting to show their age. Source

A new Black Community Public Library is launching in London, Ont., at the end of January, featuring books of various genres written by Black authors from Canada and around the world. The Where We Are Now (WEAN) Community Centre is hosting the library and aims to highlight the contributions of Black authors while creating a space for readers from marginalized communities. Source

Wordle has skyrocketed in popularity in recent weeks, but data suggests the game is especially popular in Newfoundland and Labrador. Source

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A federal judge is set to decide a new sentence Friday for "Tiger King" Joe Exotic after an appeals court ruled last year that the prison term he's serving on a murder-for-hire conviction should be shortened. Source

Canadian musician Jann Arden said writing her newest album in the middle of the pandemic gave her "a lot of time to be reflective." The writing process for "Descendant," Arden's 15th studio album out Friday, began in the spring of 2020, in the early days of the global outbreak of COVID-19. Source

Evangeline Lilly said she attended a rally against vaccine mandates in Washington, DC, last weekend -- the same event where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invoked Nazi Germany and Anne Frank in a speech. The "Ant-Man and the Wasp" star, in an Instagram post, said she attended the rally to "support bodily sovereignty" and that she believes "nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will, under the threat of . Source

To celebrate Family Literacy Day on Thursday, the Calgary Public Library launched a new initiative to encourage families to read aloud together. At six locations — the Central, Crowfoot, Fish Creek, Nose Hill, Seton and Shawnessy libraries — families can find reading kits that include various children's books, activity booklets, digital resources, book recommendations and discussion questions. Source

Winnipeg entertainer Al Simmons and his son think they have the cure for the weary winter blues: a repurposed train car full of homemade musical instruments. The Sounds Crazy Caboose is one of the warming huts selected to be built this year along the Nestaweya River Trail at The Forks. Source