“Messiah” choir rehearsals open

“Messiah” choir rehearsals open

Area residents are invited to rehearse and perform the music of Handel's 'Messiah' at the United Methodist Church, Highway 18 East, West Union. Rehearsals will be held on Nov. 15, 22, 29, and on Dec. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. The 74th annual Messiah performance will be on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.

Rudd Historical Society Breakfast

Saturday, Nov. 7, from 7:30 until 10:00 a.m. or until gone. Menu: biscuits and gravy, sausage, omelets made to order, homemade bread & jam for toast, homemade rolls, pancakes, beverages. Your free will donation towards the cost of the breakfast is appreciated! Available at Rudd Community Center, 501 Floyd Street.

Laura Bush and daughter Jenna co-writing children’s book

NEW YORK (AP) — Former first lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush Hager are working on another children's book.

HarperCollins Publishers told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Bushes are collaborating with illustrator Jacqueline Rogers on 'Our Great Big Backyard,' a picture story about a girl named Jane whose family road trip to the country's national parks leads to her 'paying attention to the majestic sights and spending less time looking at her screen.'

Already home to a ski hill, Emirates may get a snow park

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Already home to a ski hill inside a mall, the sunbaked deserts of the United Arab Emirates soon may be home to a snow park too.

Officials with Abu Dhabi's Reem Mall, scheduled to open in 2018, say they plan to build a 125,000-square-foot (11,600-square-meter) snow park inside the mall.

In a statement Wednesday, the developers say the park will include opportunities to luge and 'zorbing' — which, for the uninitiated, involves rolling down a hill in a giant ball made of transparent plastic.