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Ontario auditor general launches probe into Ontario Place redevelopment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

Ontario’s auditor general has launched a pair of audits into the Ford government’s redevelopment plan of Ontario Place.CityNews has confirmed the provincial watchdog is looking into the government’s reimagined vision for the lakefront public space, which includes a private, for-profit spa as well as the decision to move the Ontario Science Centre down to Ontario Place.“As these audits are currently in progress, we cannot comment on them further,” read a brief statement from the auditor general’s office.The Ford government has faced mounting scrutiny over the timeline and the bidding process for the redevelopment of the iconic waterfront park, specifically a 95-year lease handed to Austrian-based Therme Group to to build and operate a water park and what is described as a European-style bathing centre. Critics have pointed to a lack of transparency surrounding the deal, pointing out that no environmental assessment is necessary on the design becaus...

Some 65,000 Quebec teachers to begin unlimited general strike Nov. 23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec union representing 65,000 elementary and high school teachers is launching an unlimited general strike as of Nov. 23.Sixty delegates with the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement — known as the FAE — made the decision Thursday after they voted to reject the province’s latest contract offer.In September the union voted for a general strike but didn’t set a date, and its leadership says there are about three weeks left to reach a negotiated settlement.The government’s latest offer includes a 10.3 per cent salary increase over five years and a one-time payment of $1,000 to each worker.That offer applies to the FAE and to hundreds of thousands of other public sector workers, whose unions are negotiating at the same time with the province.A group of unions calling itself the “common front” has opted for a series of single-day strikes, the first of which will start on Monday and involve workers in the health and social services sector.Thi...

Prosecutors add hate crime allegations in shooting over Spanish conquistador statue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State prosecutors added hate-crime allegations Thursday to charges of attempted murder against a New Mexico man accused in the shooting of a Native American activist amid confrontations about aborted plans to reinstall a statue of a Spanish conquistador in public, at a court hearing Thursday in northern New Mexico.Defendant Ryan David Martinez pleaded not guilty to all charges at the arraignment overseen by a district court judge from a courthouse in TierraAmarilla.Assistant District Attorney Tony Long indicated that his office will pursue sentence enhancements based on the use of a firearm and try to prove that the shooting was motivated by bias against a particular social group.Martinez was arrested on Sept. 28 after chaos erupted and a single shot was fired at an outdoor gathering in Española over canceled plans to install a bronze likeness of conquistador Juan de Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the...

Chicago's 110th Christmas tree donated by Darien family

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

CHICAGO — The City of Chicago's 110th Christmas tree is being donated by the De La Cruz family of Darien.The 45-foot Colorado Blue Spruce will be cut down Friday morning and arrive in Millennium Park on Monday.The tree will be illuminated during the Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 17.This year's tree lighting ceremony, presented by Powering Chicago with leadership support from the Millennium Park Foundation and the Pritzker Foundation, will include multiple viewing locations with screens and concessions in the Park.Please visit Chicago.gov/Holiday for full program lineup and schedule.

Girl God Comedy Duo Talks Upcoming Show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

Girl God Comedy Duo April Clark and Grace Freud are performing this Sunday at Lincoln Hall. girlgod.coSunday, November 5 at 7pmLincoln Hall - 2424 N Lincoln Avelh-st.comDaytime Chicago airs weekdays on WGN from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Earth will cross warming threshold this decade: Study

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

(The Hill) -- Research published Thursday in the Oxford Open Climate Change journal suggests the world will reach the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the decade.In addition to crossing the 1.5-degree threshold, the limit set by the Paris Climate Agreement, by 2030, the study suggests the Earth will hit 2 degrees of warming by 2050. Earlier projections have suggested the world would reach these thresholds later, around 2035 and 2055, respectively. Lead author James Hansen of Columbia University wrote that climatologists have overestimated the planet’s resilience to increased carbon dioxide levels. Although the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that doubling the carbon in the atmosphere would warm the planet around 3 degrees, they estimated it would be closer to 4.8 degrees. Researchers based their estimate of equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) on the basis of prehistoric data from sources such as ice co...

Court sketch artist says Trump Jr. asked that she make him 'look sexy'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

(The Hill) - Donald Trump Jr., who testified in the New York fraud trial against his family business Thursday, asked the courtroom sketch artist to make him “look sexy” in her illustrations, she says.According to the artist, Jane Rosenberg, Trump, who took the stand the same day as his brother Eric Trump, paused to banter with her once he was done testifying. Rosenberg, who was on assignment for Reuters, said former President Trump's eldest son asked her to create a portrait that would “make me look sexy.”Trump Jr. pointed to the recently circulating false courtroom drawing of former cryptocurrency CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to Trump, the portrait, which was not done by Rosenberg, made Bankman-Fried look like a “superstar.”"I said, 'That's fake,'" Rosenberg said. "It doesn't look anything like him, doesn't look anything like Sam Bankman-Fried ... and there's no one in the courtroom drawing that."Users on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, have added context to the vira...

Police testify about interactions with Colin Strickland at Kaitlin Armstrong trial Friday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN Live's top headlines the morning of Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The first two days of Kaitlin Armstrong's murder trial involved graphic crime scene images, home surveillance video of the night Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson was killed, and in-depth questioning about the process of gathering evidence at the scene.Armstrong is accused of shooting and killing Wilson in May 2022. KXAN's Brianna Hollis will be in court Friday and providing live updates on social media platform X: KAITLIN ARMSTRONG DAY 3: Testimony will continue in about 30 minutes. I’ll be live tweeting on this thread. Catch up on some of yesterday’s coverage in the video below as well as this link @KXAN_News >> https://t.co/PFzpTWuYVx pic.twitter.com/uEMblXi46m— Brianna Hollis (@BriHollisNEWS) November 3, 2023 While the state mapped out a timeline through phone, GPS, video surveillance and DNA evidence prosecutors believe pin Armstrong for Wilson's murder, the de...

LIVE TODAY: Texas Rangers celebrate World Series win with parade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

ARLINGTON (KFDX/KJTL) — For the first time in franchise history, the Texas Rangers are bringing a championship trophy back home to North Texas. On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, the Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks by a final score of 5-0 in Game 5 of the 2023 MLB World Series, clinching the team's first World Series title since relocating to Texas in 1972. After securing the first World Series Championship in Texas Rangers' history, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex joined Los Angeles and Boston as the only metropolitan areas to win a championship in each of the four major American sports (NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA) since 1995. Texas Rangers Parade Route (Image courtesy MLB.com)To celebrate the historic World Series title, the City of Arlington will honor the Texas Rangers with a parade and ceremony on Friday, November 3, 2023, at the Arlington Entertainment District, where Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium are located. According to a press release from the Texas Ranger...

Daylight Saving Time – harmful to humans or a necessary evil?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:21 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A decade ago the obituary of a “ladies’ man, foodie, natty dresser, and accomplished traveler” named Harry Weathersby Stamps went viral because of the Gulf Coast Community College professor's disgust for Daylight Saving Time. Image of a magical timeclock by Getty “He particularly hated Daylight Saving Time, which he referred to as The Devil’s Time,” Stamps’ obituary announced to the world just after he died in 2013. “It is not lost on his family that he died the very day that he would have to spring his clock forward. This can only be viewed as his final protest.”In the obituary, Stamps' family asked for others to write congressmen and ask for the repeal of Day Light Saving Time because, and I quote, “Harry wanted everyone to get back on the Lord’s Time.”A decade later, Stamps’ obituary was (and still is) hysterical because his thoughts mirror those of millions of Americans who also hate to spring forward and fall back. What’s the point of Day Light Sa...