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Encampment fire reported near Toronto’s Fort York National Historic Site

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

Toronto police and fire crews are responding to an encampment fire near the city’s Fort York National Historic Site.Authorities received multiple reports of a fire in the Fort York Boulevard and Lake Shore Boulevard West area just after 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.A police spokesperson said there are reports that the fire had spread to surrounding trees. A video shared on X shows a fire near the Fort York National Historic Site. The City of Toronto currently has the incident listed as an encampment fire, with crews dispatched to the Fleet Street and Angelique Street area at around 5:40 p.m.It’s unclear if there are any injuries.Big fire in Fort York? pic.twitter.com/aH4VxNCY0P— Jeffrey Hall (@hallofjeff) November 28, 2023

Alimentation Couche-Tard reports net earnings of US$819.2 million in second quarter

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

LAVAL, Que. — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says its net earnings for the second quarter were US$819.2 million, up from US$810.4 million a year earlier.The Laval, Que.-based company says total merchandise and service revenues were US$4.1 billion, up one per cent from last year. Alimentation Couche-Tard says same-store merchandise revenues decreased by 0.1 per cent in the U.S. and 0.2 per cent in Europe but rose 1.6 per cent in Canada. President and CEO Brian Hannasch says the company saw softening in U.S. same-store sales driven by weakness in the cigarette category and compared with a strong second quarter a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were 85 cents US, up from 79 cents US during the same quarter last year. The company says same-store road transportation fuel volumes decreased by 1.5 per cent in the U.S. and 0.9 per cent in Europe but increased three per cent in Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:AT...

Liberals say pharmacare bill unlikely to pass this year, despite promise to NDP

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

OTTAWA — Government House leader Karina Gould warned Tuesday the Liberals are unlikely to get a pharmacare bill passed by the end of the year, despite their promise to do so in an agreement with the NDP.“I don’t think we’re going to get it passed by the end of this year, but we’ll definitely keep working,” Gould said on Parliament Hill. The two parties are still hammering out the details of a bill and it’s a “productive” conversation, she added.  In the end, she said, “I’m quite confident that we’ll land it.”The supply-and-confidence deal, in which the New Democrats are supporting the Liberals in key House of Commons votes, included a commitment to pass a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on his way into question period today that the government is “ready to go” on putting forward legislation. But he said the government wants to make it happen in concert with the NDP. “W...

Judge enters $120M order against former owner of failed Michigan dam

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

DETROIT (AP) — The former owner of a Michigan dam is on the hook for roughly $120 million sought by the state for environmental damage when the structure failed after days of rain in 2020, a judge said.But it’s not known how the state will ever collect: Lee Mueller has filed for bankruptcy protection in Nevada.“There isn’t that kind of money anywhere,” Mueller’s attorney, Troy Fox, said Tuesday.After three days of rain, the Edenville Dam collapsed in May 2020, releasing a torrent that overtopped the downstream Sanford Dam and flooded the city of Midland, located about 128 miles (206.00 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Thousands of people were temporarily evacuated and 150 homes were destroyed. Wixom Lake, a reservoir behind the Edenville Dam, disappeared.U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney on Monday granted the state’s request for a $120 million judgment against Mueller, who didn’t contest it. The state said much of that amount is related to damage to fis...

Argentina’s president-elect tells top Biden officials that he’s committed to freedom

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei met Tuesday with senior Biden administration officials at the White House in his first international trip since winning a presidential runoff earlier this month.The right-wing Milei had a “positive meeting” with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the president-elect’s office said in a statement. The visit by Argentina’s incoming leader occurred while President Joe Biden was away from Washington at a memorial for former first lady Rosalynn Carter in Georgia and then traveling to Colorado.The statement from Milei’s office said he had expressed “his views on the international geopolitical agenda aligned with the West and his commitment to the values of freedom.” It added that Sullivan, speaking on behalf of the administration, ”conveyed the willingness of the United States to cooperate in the transition of the incoming Argentine government, given the challenging political, economic and social...

Advocates say Ontario Place deal between province, Toronto falls short

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

Residents in the Flemingdon Park neighbourhood aren’t pleased with the new deal announced between the provincial government and the City of Toronto that will officially move the Science Centre to Ontario Place.Toronto agreed to allow the development of Ontario Place in exchange for the government uploading the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway, disappointing many who hoped to keep the Science Centre where it is.Floyd Ruskin, spokesperson for Save the Ontario Science Centre, said he believes this is a detriment to the community of Flemingdon Park.“I’ve taken my kids there. Everybody I’ve spoken to. We’ve all had a great experience there. And we want to maintain that science experience for future generations,” said Ruskin.Flemingdon Park residents aren’t the only ones who say the deal falls short of what the city needs.The deal includes $1.2 billion in operating funding over the next three years, including for transit and shelters. But advocates...

Judge rejects effort to dismiss case against former DA charged in Ahmaud Arbery killing’s aftermath

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

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A judge Tuesday refused to dismiss misconduct charges against a former Georgia prosecutor accused of hindering the investigation into the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.The one-page ruling by Senior Judge John R. Turner comes 20 months after defense attorneys for former District Attorney Jackie Johnson filed a legal motion arguing the case against her should be scrapped for lack of evidence. Johnson served as the top prosecutor for coastal Glynn County when white men in pickup trucks chased and killed Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, after they spotted the young Black man running in their neighborhood. The fatal pursuit was initiated by Greg McMichael, a retired investigator who had worked for Johnson. His adult son, Travis McMichael, fired the shotgun blasts that left 25-year-old Arbery dead in the street. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded cellphone video of the killing.More than two months passed before the McMichaels and Bryan were arre...

GOP impeachment effort against Philadelphia prosecutor lands before Democratic-majority court

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

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Tuesday weighed whether the Legislature can proceed with an impeachment trial against Philadelphia’s elected progressive prosecutor and whether the court or lawmakers should determine what qualifies as misbehavior in office. What the justices decide after oral arguments in the Supreme Court chambers in Harrisburg will determine the future of efforts to remove District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, on claims he should have prosecuted some minor crimes, his bail policies and how he has managed his office. Krasner was impeached by the state House in November 2022, a year after he was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term, sending the matter to the state Senate for trial.Justice Kevin Brobson, one of the two Republicans on the bench Tuesday, questioned why the court should get involved at this point and suggested the Senate may not get the two-thirds majority necessary to convict and remove Krasner from office....

Skilling: Sunny, but windy Wednesday ahead for Chicagoland

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

IT'S COLD---and UNSEASONABLY SO!!  Only 7 Nov 28's since official records began here in 1872 have been colder.  BUT WARMING IS ON THE WAY!!  TEMPS WED AFTERNOON ARE LIKELY TO SURGE NEARLY 20-DEG HIGHER THAN TODAY'S LOW 20S.......Chicagoans shivered through the coldest weather in 8 months.  The high temp only made it to 23-deg today, tied with the 23-deg reading on tthis date 46 years ago in 1977.  It's been 47 years—since the 16-deg high on this date in 1976---that a Nov 28th has been colder.A combination of events have led to the current early season chill: among them a jet stream which roared southward from the northernmost arctic reaches of North America and the presence of a reflective snow pack which limits the warming effect of any sunshine on an income cold air mass.  Snow is said to have a high "albedo"--in other words, it's a highly reflective surface which diminishes the warming effect of incoming sunlight. It's no accident the coldest weather here follows t...

The 'center' of Illinois is likely a spot you've never visited

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

(NEXSTAR) — When you think of the heart of Illinois, maybe you think of Chicago or its capital, Springfield. Geographically speaking, maybe you think of the area around Decatur.If it's the latter, you aren't far off. Since the first census in 1790, the U.S. Census Bureau has been calculating the “center of population” in the country. This is a point where an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the U.S. would balance perfectly if everyone were of identical weight. It is the average location of where people in the U.S. live, according to the Census Bureau. Data from the 2020 census found Hartville, Missouri, is the “heart” of America. Since 1980, Missouri towns have been the population centers, but the first-ever center in 1790 was in Maryland, just east of Baltimore. When will the sun start setting later in Chicago? In addition to calculating the center of population for the U.S., the Census Bureau is also able to calculate the “heart” of each sta...