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The worst roads in Ontario? You can have your say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

Marking its 20th year, the annual CAA Worst Roads Campaign is back, and once again, it’s that time of year to vote on what you believe is the worst road in Ontario.Whether it’s constant irritation with potholes, lousy signage, unsafe pedestrian crossings or mismanaged traffic lights, CAA wants to hear from you.Announcing the launch Tuesday morning Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of government and community relations, CAA SCO, spoke to the importance of the campaign.“Every year, these votes have helped inform various levels of government with an important perspective on what roadway improvements are most important to Ontarians and where infrastructure funding and investments should be made going forward.”Felice added, “In a recent survey conducted by CAA, we found that 78 per cent of respondents are venting about the state of the roads to their friends, families and loved ones rather than to their local government officials.”She said the...

Police: Nashville shooter bought 7 guns before school attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville school shooter legally bought seven firearms in recent years and hid the guns from their parents before the attack at a Christian school where the suspect killed three children and three adults, police said Tuesday.Police said the shooter did not specifically target their victims during the shooting at The Covenant School on Monday. The suspect, Audrey Hale, was a former student at the school.Authorities said Hale was not on their radar before the attack. Police say Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville police released video Tuesday from a body-worn camera that shows a team of officers entering and searching an elementary school, then confronting and opening fire on an assailant who had murdered three children and three adults in the latest school shooting to roil the nation.The dramatic, six-minute video supple...

Georgia high court considers whether abortion law is void

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court is considering whether the state’s restrictive abortion law is void because it violated U.S. Supreme Court precedent that was in effect at the time when it was enacted.A lower court judge last year ruled that the law enacted in 2019 was not valid because it was it was “unequivocally unconstitutional” at the time for governments to ban abortions before viability based on U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade and another ruling. Therefore, he wrote, the measure did not become law when it was enacted and could not be law even after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that precedent last year.His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Georgia doctors and advocacy groups that challenged the law. During oral arguments Tuesday before the Georgia Supreme Court on the state of Georgia’s appeal challenging the lower court ruling, state ...

TTC increases outreach as expert call for guaranteed income in response to violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

A rise in violence on Toronto’s transit system signals an urgent need to better support people struggling with homelessness, mental illness and addiction, says a forensic psychiatrist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).“It’s that combination that is giving rise to this (violence),” said Dr. Sandy Simpson, chair in forensic psychiatry at CAMH and the University of Toronto,“It’s really impossible to know how much each of those things is to blame. But it’s not a single issue,” he said.More information is needed about the suspects accused in recent attacks against Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) passengers and employees to make that determination, he said.But Simpson said drug addiction is likely a factor in some cases, especially crystal meth and crack. Unlike opioids, those drugs can be associated with violent acts.Lack of social support for people who are living in poverty and who are homeless, as well as poor acces...

Psychiatric evaluation extended for man accused of crashing bus into Quebec daycare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

LAVAL, Que. — A court heard Tuesday that a Montreal psychiatric hospital needs more time to evaluate a bus driver’s mental state at the time he allegedly drove a bus into a daycare, killing two young children.The Philippe-Pinel institute has been charged with assessing the criminal responsibility of Pierre Ny St-Amand, 51, on Feb. 8, the day of the killings. However, in a letter addressed to the court, the hospital said that due to the complexity of the file, it needs another 30 days to complete the assessment.“Given the nature of the offence and the complexity of the clinical picture, additional evaluations were requested, in particular a psychological evaluation, which unfortunately could not be completed in time for the upcoming hearing date,” Dr. Kim Bédard-Charette, a forensic psychiatrist, wrote in the letter. She noted Mr. St-Amand’s “exemplary co-operation.” Prosecutor Karine Dalphond told reporters after a brief hearing at the Laval, Que....

SNDL to purchase four Dutch Love cannabis stores in $7.8 million deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

Calgary-based pot retailer SNDL Inc. says it is buying four Dutch Love cannabis stores from Lightbox Enterprises Ltd.SNDL says it is paying $7.8 million for three stores in B.C., one in Ontario and the right to use some of Dutch Love’s intellectual property.Around $1.5 million of the price will be paid in cash, $3 million will come in the form of cancelled debt owed by Lightbox to SNDL and $3.3 million will be paid in common shares of SNDL.The stores SNDL will acquire generated a combined annual revenue of $11.5 million in 2022, with an average gross margin of 36.5 per cent.The deal is anticipated to close by the end of May, and is the result of a sale and investment solicitation process undertaken by Lightbox as part of its proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The expected close will be concurrent with the proposed restructuring of Nova Cannabis Inc. and SNDL. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.The Canadian Press

‘Here to help’: Ontario pharmacists seek expanded role in managing COVID, other diseases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

As we continue to learn how to live with COVID-19, pharmacists in Ontario say they can and should play a larger role in helping manage the disease and other ailments to relieve the pressure from family doctors and an already overloaded healthcare system.Jen Belcher, vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Member Relations for the Ontario Pharmacist Association, said from dispensing vaccinations to now prescribing the COVID-19 pill Paxlovid, pharmacists have played a critical role in the pandemic.“That end-to-end solution in a pharmacy where you can be tested, you can be assessed, you can have your drug interactions managed, you can receive that prescription, and you can actually have it dispensed at that pharmacy […] In our minds, this has made a lot of sense,” she said.Earlier this year, Ontario pharmacists were given the authority to prescribe medication for 13 common ailments like allergies, cold sores and acid reflux and in last Thursday’s provincial budget, six ...

NASCAR makes major announcement on Chicago Street Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

CHICAGO - As the inaugural event in downtown Chicago gets closer and closer, more and more about the Chicago Street Race is being announced.That's the case on Tuesday as NASCAR is being joined by members of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to make a major announcement ahead of the event on July 1 and 2.You can watch this announcement live from WGN News Now in the video above.

After 32 years, a viewer gets a 2nd chance at 'The Grand Prize Game'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT

CHICAGO — The luck was with her on that special day at the WGN studios in 1991, but the timing wasn't great. While in the audience on "The Bozo Show," Michelle Kunath held the number picked by the "Bozoputer" to play "The Grand Prize Game." The problem was that she was only three, so her older sister Jenny was the one who got to play "Bozo Buckets" while she sat on her mother's lap.Well 32 years later, she got her second chance to play.Appearing with Jenny on WGN Morning News on Tuesday, as part of WGN's 75th anniversary celebration, Michelle's 32-year wait to play the "The Grand Prize Game" ended as she tested her skills on the "Bozo Buckets."You can watch this edition of "Second Chance Grand Prize Game" from the March 28 show in the video above. Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

“Canada Rejoins Japanese Beef Market After Two Decades”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:28 GMT