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More than 130,000 still without power in Quebec following deadly ice storm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

More than 130,000 customers in Quebec are still without power as Hydro-Québec makes repairs to its energy grid after last week’s deadly ice storm.Most of the remaining outages are in the Montreal region.Hydro-Québec says some of the roughly 3,000 remaining outages are in hard-to-access areas or are trickier to resolve, slowing the progress.The province has announced some grocery stores can remain open on Easter Sunday — a statutory holiday — to help residents running low on food after the blackout.The temporary measure applies to stores in six particularly hard-hit regions: Montreal, Monteregie, Laval, Outaouais, Laurentides and Lanaudiere.More than a million people were without power at the peak of the outages caused by Wednesday’s storm, which left large swaths of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario under a coat of ice and is being linked to three deaths.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2023.The Canadian Press

Pope at Easter: Pray for Ukrainian, Russian people, refugees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees, and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, marked Christianity’s most joyful day with Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square. Easter proclaims the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead after crucifixion.The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations,” Francis said the joyful expression of Easter “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi,” which means “to the city and the world.”Since Russia i...

‘Almost no notice at all’: GO Transit changes frustrate commuters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

It took one GO Transit scheduling change to turn Siddhartha Batra from a regular commuter to a full-time remote worker.A direct bus operated by the regional transit provider used to provide an easy way for the 31-year-old civil engineer to travel from his home in downtown Toronto to his job roughly 35 kilometres away in Mississauga, Ont.But some changes GO operator Metrolinx recently implemented on some of its most popular train and bus routes effectively doubled Batra’s travel time, based on estimates from GO Transit’s own trip tracker. The prospect of the longer commute prompted him to obtain permission to abandon the journey altogether and work from home permanently.“There is no way on Earth I’m travelling two hours on public transit, one-way,” Batra said in an interview. “I won’t be using it at all because it just doesn’t work anymore.”Batra is not alone in his frustration with the scheduling changes, which Metrolinx announce...

France: Marseille building collapses, fire stymies rescues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Up to 10 people may be buried under the debris of a building that collapsed following an explosion in France’s port city of Marseille, but a fire deep within the rubble hindered rescue efforts Sunday, the French interior minister said.Officials determined that at least four people lived in the building, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. It was not known if anyone was killed in the collapse or explosion, or what triggered the blast, he said. Darmanin, who visited the site, provided the update nearly 11 hours after the five-story building collapsed before 1 a.m. More than 100 firefighters, aided by specialists, worked through the night to access and extinguish the fire, which the minister said was burning a few meters (feet) under the debris.The delicate operation proceeded with the aim of keeping firefighters safe, preventing further harm to people potentially trapped in the rubble and not compromising vulnerable buildings nearby. Some 30 building...

‘A hell of a choice’: Patients left frustrated amid delays to access assisted dying

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

John Scully has been living with a major depressive disorder diagnosis for four decades, and despite trying nearly every treatment known to medicine, from shock therapy to trans-magnetic stimulation, his condition has not improved.The 82-year-old says he wants that suffering to end. He wants to do it legally, painlessly, in a way that respects his loved ones. He wants medical assistance in dying.But like many Canadians who suffer from mental illnesses that their doctors have been unable to successfully treat, Scully has had to wait.The Liberal government passed legislation in 2021 that would expand eligibility to patients whose only condition is a mental disorder, which included a two-year delay so that practice guidelines could be developed. Last month, it hastily legislated another year of delay.Scully said in an interview that the wait is beyond agonizing.“I have utter contempt for the panels, and the government that has delayed the application of (assisted dying),” S...

Girl, 15, fatally shot in head on South Side ID'd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

CHICAGO — A 15-year-old girl was fatally shot in the back of the head while sitting in a vehicle on the city's South Side early Sunday morning. Police have identified the girl as 15-year-old, Demea Morris of Chicago, IL. Morris was sitting in the back of a vehicle near the 10600 block of South Sangamon Cul De Sac around 12:51 a.m. when she was shot in the back of the head. 2 men critical after drive-up shooting in Grand Crossing Police say she was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition and was later pronounced dead. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Literary pick for week of April 9

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

Special guest birds from the Raptor Center are sure to liven Priyanka Kumar’s discussion about her book “Conversations with Birds” with Daniel Slager, publisher and chief executive of Minneapolis-based Milkweed Editions, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Mpls. It is free and open to the public.Priyanka Kumar will discuss her book, “Conversations with Birds” April 12, 2023 at Open Book in Minneapolis, in dialogue with Milkweed Editions CEO/publisher Daniel Slager. Kumar is a novelist, non-fiction writer and filmmaker. They will be joined by live birds from the Raptor Center. (Courtesy of Milkweed Editions)“Birds are my almanac. They tune me into the seasons, and into myself,” Kumar writes in her collection of essays. A filmmaker and novelist, she grew up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India where she took for granted the lush natural world around her. After moving to North America as a teenager, s...

Plane calls for an emergency landing at Springfield airport after engine failure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A plane flying near Springfield had to conduct an emergency landing due to engine failure.According to Kent Boyd, the public information and marketing manager for the Springfield-Branson National Airport, a distress call came in around 10:00 a.m. this morning from a plane that was flying with only one of its two engines. Clydesdales canceled: local Budweiser distributor cancels upcoming showings At 10:30 a.m., the plane was able to safely land at the Springfield-Branson National Airport with no reported injuries.Reportedly, it was an American Airlines airplane.Springfield first responders were called to the scene.Boyd said they are still investigating where the plane was flying from, the destination, and the cause of engine failure.OzarksFirst will update this article as new information comes in.

Thanks to Nuggets, Avs, Rockies, CU Buffs, Denver could be ground zero for future of sports on TV. And that future looks bleak.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

Want a glimpse into the future of sports on television, America? Take a good, long, hard look at Denver. Then shield your eyes before they start to bleed.“There is no simple answer,” Bob Thompson, a media consultant and the former president of Fox Sports Networks and general manager of Denver’s old Prime Sports Network, told The Denver Post.“You’re going to have to have multiple platforms (to watch games), where it’s a satellite dish or a cable box and a Roku or an Apple TV box or a Fire stick (from Amazon). You’re going to have multiple options to watch your team, as opposed to how it used to be, where there was this cable bundle that was all things to all people. And then it got to be too expensive for a lot of (providers). It’s not going to be one-size-fits-all ordinarily anymore.”Translation: If you want to watch every major sports team in the Denver area by legal means, you’re going to have to jump through more hoops than a trained circus lion.The two best teams in town, the de...

Saunders: Why Rockies GM Bill Schmidt won’t rush prospects to majors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:44 GMT

Eight games into the season, the 3-5 Rockies look like the team we thought they’d be. In other words, it’s a club likely to finish last in the National League West and post a losing record for the 22nd time in 31 years of its existence.But there might be some hope on the horizon. Various baseball pundits rate the Rockies’ farm system as one of the most improved. MLB Pipeline, for example, ranks the Rockies 14th, a significant jump from their 24th spot in 2022 and 27th ranking in 2021.The Rockies firmly believe that their “children” are their future, but when will players such as outfielders Zac Veen, Brenton Doyle, and Benny Montgomery, catcher Drew Romo, and, farther down the line, pitchers Gabriel Hughes and Jaden Hill, be ready for prime-time?Here’s a peek at general manager Bill Schmidt’s philosophy:Q: What are the main things that tell you that a player is ready?Schmidt: “You look for consistency. For hitters, on-base percentage i...