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Ontario Place redesign to include more public space following criticism over initial plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

An Austrian-based company set to open a private spa and waterpark at Ontario Place released its updated vision for the space, following what critics say was a loss of public park space in its initial design.On Tuesday, Therme says public space will be expanded, partly owing to space that will be on the bridge connecting the West Island of Ontario Place to the mainland, and will also include a beach.The spa will also be smaller than its initial design, which was six stories high and taking up 19 per cent of Ontario Place’s 155 acres.Therme Canada says the updated design was based on input from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, as well as feedback from public meetings, community engagement and City of Toronto planning staff.Some of the changes include (as provided by Therma Group):Public parkland area that includes parks, rooftop trails and gardens, will increase by 35 per cent to 15.9 acresAdditional public park space will run over and through the middle of the Therm...

Correctional officer at St. Louis jail freed after being held hostage by inmates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A guard was abducted Tuesday by inmates at a downtown St. Louis jail, but was freed hours later.The St. Louis Department of Public Safety confirmed the correctional officer was freed but didn’t provide any information about the abduction or whether he was injured. An afternoon news conference is scheduled to discuss the attack — the latest of several acts of violence inside the jail that holds nearly 700 inmates.Police reported the guard’s abduction just after 6 a.m. on the fourth floor of the City Justice Center.Detectives told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the officer was a 70-year-old man who didn’t have a weapon when he was taken hostage. Medics brought a man wearing a guard’s uniform out on a stretcher about 8:30 a.m. The newspaper reported that he was conscious but looked haggard.It wasn’t clear what prompted the abduction, but advocates for inmates have long complained about conditions at the jail. It was the site of three upr...

Mississippi officer out of job after 10-year-old is taken into custody for urinating in public

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

SENATOBIA, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi police officer who took part in the arrest and jailing of a 10-year-old child who urinated in a parking lot is “no longer employed,” and other officers will be disciplined over the incident, the city’s police chief said.Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler announced the news in a Facebook post Monday, but he didn’t specify whether the officer who has left the department was fired or quit, or what type of discipline the other officers would face. Chandler didn’t immediately reply to a Tuesday voicemail seeking further information about the changes.“We appreciate the public’s patience while we investigated this incident. We deeply value your trust and support, and we are dedicated to continually improving and learning from our mistakes,” Chandler wrote in the Facebook post, noting that the officers violated their training on how to deal with children.The child’s mother told news outlets that her son urinated behind...

Ottawa Food Bank forced to turn down volunteers due to donation shortfall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Food Bank says it was forced to cut shifts for volunteers due to a shortage of donated food. It attributes the scarcity in donations to high food prices, which the organization says “are understandably impacting donor habits.”The food bank apologized to volunteers who had their shifts cancelled in a statement on Monday. The charitable organization provides food to over 100 different services including small community food banks, shelters and school meal programs across Ottawa. In 2022, the Ottawa Food Bank spent over $3.5 million to meet demand and distributed around 8.8 million pounds of food. The organization’s 26 member food banks had over 400,000 visits in 2022. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2023. The Canadian Press<!– Photo: 2023082212084-64e4dd3e6454cf45257b0d19jpeg.jpg, Caption: The Ottawa Food Bank says it was forced to cut shift for volunteers due to a shortage of donated food. Canned products s...

James Harden fined $100,000 for public comments about status with 76ers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has fined Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden $100,000 for public comments he made about his status with the team.Harden made public comments on Aug. 14 and Aug. 17 saying he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless he were traded to another team. The league talked to Harden as part of its investigation and confirmed that his comments referenced Harden’s belief that the 76ers would not grant his trade request.Harden picked up his player option for next season in June, but the 76ers have not found a deal, prompting Harden’s anger. Among other things, he called 76ers president Daryl Morey a liar at a promotional event in China.“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said at the event. “Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”Harden has been one of the league’s top players for the past d...

Palestinian teen claimed by militant group as a fighter is killed in Israeli army raid in West Bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli security forces stormed into a town in the north of the West Bank on Tuesday, leading to fighting that killed a 17-year-old Palestinian, according to Palestinian health officials, the latest violence to grip the occupied territory. Israel also released the results Tuesday of a military investigation into the death of a soldier killed during its major raid into the Jenin refugee camp last month, concluding that the soldier was killed by a bullet fired by Israeli forces.Before dawn Tuesday, the Israeli military conducted an arrest raid in the town of Zababdeh south of Jenin, local medics said. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that 17-year-old Othman Abu Kharj was fatally shot in the head. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed Abu Kharj as a fighter. Meanwhile, Israeli security forces were still searching for the Palestinian gunman who carried out a shooting in the northern Palestinian city of Hawara that killed an Israeli father and son ...

Police say large explosion in Prince George, B.C., sends several to hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — A large explosion at an abandoned building in downtown Prince George, B.C., has sent several people to hospital, RCMP say.The blast happened about 7 a.m. Tuesday.Cpl. Jennifer Cooper said the number and extent of the injuries were unknown.The cause of the blast was also unknown, and Cooper said emergency crews remained on scene as firefighters worked to put out the flames.“This incident is dynamic and information is changing rapidly,” Cooper said in a news release. “The number of casualties is currently unknown. More information will be provided as it comes available.Fortis and BC Hydro were also at the scene to try to help firefighters contain the blaze and aid in the investigation, Cooper said. The RCMP closed streets around the blast site and asked the public stay out of the area. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2023.The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan says parental consent needed for name, pronoun change of students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government says schools must now seek parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns.Education Minister Dustin Duncan said Tuesday that the province wants to standardize pronoun and naming policies, as they varied from one school division to another.A similar move earlier this year in New Brunswick was faced by intense opposition by LGBTQ groups.“Parent and guardian involvement is critical in every student’s education,” Duncan said in a statement.“Schools will continue to ensure safe learning environments where all students feel included, protected and respected.”The province also said that parents and guardians must be informed of a school’s sexual education curriculum and given the option to decline their child’s participation.The province recently had a review done of its sexual education curriculum after Planned Parenthood inadvertently took inappropriate sexual material into a hi...

Mexican army says drug cartels are increasing their use of roadside bombs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican army said Tuesday that drug cartels have increased their use of roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices this year, with 42 soldiers, police and suspects wounded by IEDs so far in 2023, up from 16 in 2022.The figures provided by Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval appeared to include only those wounded by explosive devices, but officials have already acknowledged that at least one National Guard officer and four state police officers have been killed in two separate explosive attacks this year.Particularly on the rise were drone-carried bombs, which were unknown in Mexico prior to 2020. So far this year, 260 such incidents have been recorded. However, even that number may be an underestimate: residents in some parts of the western state of Michoacan say that attacks by bomb-dropping drones are a near-daily occurrence.Six car bombs have been found so far in 2023, up from one in 2022. However, car bombs were also occasionally used years ago i...

Broaden scope of Canada’s weather alert system to account for wildfires, expert urges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:38 GMT

OTTAWA — As wildfires rage in western Canada, a communications and broadcasting policy expert says the national weather alerting system should account for a wider range of extreme events. Monica Auer of Canada’s Forum for Research and Policy in Communications says emergency notifications should be sent out for any events that have the potential to threaten lives, such as wildfires.As of now, the National Public Alerting System — publicly known as Alert Ready — issues emergency notifications for tornadoes and severe storms.A federal regulatory policy drafted in 2014 says alert messages should be issued for situations presenting “imminent or unfolding dangers to life.”The federal broadcast regulator said in the policy that this included, but was not limited to, tornadoes, forest fires, industrial disasters and tsunamis.Eric de Groot, an associate director with Environment Canada, had no comment on the question of expanding the weather alerting system to include event...