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Ontario’s finance minister provides fiscal update but focus turns to Greenbelt scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Ontario’s finance minister provided an update on the province’s first-quarter finances but he faced tough questions about the scathing auditor-general report into the Ford government decision’s to open up the Greenbelt for housing development.Peter Bethlenfalvy, who presented his fiscal update in the legislature on Monday morning, revealed the province spent about $766 million more than planned in the first quarter of this fiscal year. Nearly all of that new spending came from contingency funds.According to the 2023-24 First Quarter Finances, the deficit projection for 2023-24 remains at the $1.3 billion set out in the spring budget.Revenues and expenses are largely unchanged from the budget forecast, though a detailed look at the expenses sets out $766.6 million in new program spending.About half of that is to develop industrial land for large-scale manufacturing, with money also going toward policing, flood protection in Toronto, affordable housing in Ottawa and ...

Coroner to hold inquest into officer cadet’s suicide at Royal Military College

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The Ontario coroner will hold an inquest into the death of an officer cadet who took his own life while attending Royal Military College last year. Absar Chaudhry’s family had asked the coroner to look into the case earlier this year, saying they had questions the military was not answering. The 21-year-old was found dead in his dorm room in Kingston, Ont., on Nov. 30. Chaudhry’s parents and their lawyers asked the coroner to investigate the conditions at the college and whether they played a role in his death. In a court filing in April, the family said the military had failed to act on a report by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, who said there were abuses of power and a toxic environment at the college.The Defence Department says an internal board of inquiry looking into Chaudhry’s death will begin interviewing witnesses in the coming weeks.If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24/7 by calling Talk Suicide...

Russia’s ruble hits its lowest level since early in the war. The central bank plans to step in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Russian ruble on Monday reached its lowest value since the early weeks of the war in Ukraine as Moscow increases military spending and Western sanctions weigh on its energy exports.It led Russia’s central bank to announce an emergency meeting for Tuesday to review its key interest rate, raising the likelihood of an increase in borrowing costs that would support the flagging ruble.The Russian currency had passed 101 rubles to the dollar, continuing a more than 25% decline in its value since the beginning of the year and hitting the lowest level in almost 17 months. The ruble recovered slightly after the central bank’s announcement.The meeting was set after President Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser, Maksim Oreshkin, blamed the weak ruble on “loose monetary policy” in an op-ed Monday for state news agency Tass. He said a strong ruble is in the interest of the Russian economy and that a weak currency “complicates economic restructuring and negatively affe...

‘Operation Jagdakommando’: U.S. agency’s airborne northern-border migration sweep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. border agents used helicopters and a fixed-wing airplane to round up 124 people earlier this year along the Canada-U.S. border. Customs and Border Protection says the sweep, dubbed “Operation Jagdakommando,” was in response to what it calls unprecedented illicit cross-border activity. But the agency has refused to discuss the operation, conducted in April and May, after publicizing it in a news release last month.That release says aircrews have played a key role in what the agency calls a “significant increase” in migrant apprehensions over the last nine months. Sharry Aiken, an immigration expert at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., says it’s not at all clear how many migrants were among the 124 people detained. She says it’s problematic that the agency is conflating irregular migration with clearly illegal activity like drug and weapons trafficking.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.Th...

WATCH LIVE | Johnson chooses Larry Snelling to be next CPD Superintendent

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson has selected Larry Snelling to be Chicago's next top cop.“Today, a new chapter begins in our journey to create a better, stronger and safer Chicago as Chief Larry Snelling has been charged to lead the Chicago Police Department,” Johnson said in a press release Sunday. “Chief Snelling is a proven leader who has the experience and the respect of his peers to help ensure the safety and well-being of city residents, and address the complex challenges we all face related to community safety.”  After the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) confirmed its top three candidates to be considered for superintendent of the Chicago Police Department back on July 13, a 30-day clock started ticking for Johnson, who had until Sunday to make the appointment.Here's some background information on the man who is now set to be in charge of helping revitalize one of the country's largest police forces: ...

Clarence Avant, ‘Black Godfather' of entertainment, and benefactor of athletes and politicians, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Clarence Avant, the judicious manager, entrepreneur, facilitator and adviser who helped launch or guide the careers of Quincy Jones, Bill Withers and many others and came to be known as the "Black Godfather" of music and beyond, has died. He was 92.Avant, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a family statement released Monday.Avant’s achievements were both public and behind the scenes, as a name in the credits, or a name behind the names. Born in a segregated hospital in North Carolina, he became a man of lasting and wide-ranging influence, in part by minding two pieces of advice from an early mentor, the music manager Joe Glaser: Never let on how much you know, and ask for as much money as possible, “without stuttering.”Sometimes called “The Godfather of Black Music,” he broke in as a manager in the 1950s, with such clients as singers Sarah Vaughan and Little Willie John and composer Lalo Schifr...

6-foot long boa constrictor found in Target shopping cart

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) - People at an Iowa Target were in for a surprise after a 6-foot long snake was found in a shopping cart Saturday.Animal control was sent to Target on Sunnybrook Drive in Sioux City around 11:30 a.m. after a Columbian red boa was found in a shopping cart, the Sioux City Police Department told Nexstar's KCAU. Snake in a toilet: Slithering visitor to Arizona home camps out where homeowner least expects it The snake was found in a cart in one of the cart corrals and wasn't noticed until brought inside the store. Courtesy Lindsay AlvarezCourtesy Lindsay AlvarezCourtesy Lindsay AlvarezAnimal control believes the snake was placed in the cart intentionally. Police said they were unsure if a customer or employee saw the snake first. According to the Racine Zoo in Wisconsin, male Columbian red tailed boas are typically 6 to 8 feet in size, while females are 7 to 9 feet. Females, which are larger, can weigh up to 30 pounds.

'Question mark' spotted by in deep space by Webb Space Telescope; what is it?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

SPACE (KXAN) -- A new photo from the James Webb Space Telescope is leading to a giant question: What in the cosmos formed a giant "?" in space?The photo was released by the European Space Agency on July 26th. This week, people online noticed what appeared to be "question mark" in the image. A recent image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope shows what appears to be a "question mark" in deep space. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. DePasquale (STScI), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)The original image shows two stars, Herbig-Haro 46/47, forming in the center of a disc of gas and dust, according to the ESA. Just beneath the stars, the "question mark" can be spotted.In an interview with Space.com, a representative with Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) said the object is likely one or more galaxies "interacting". The color implies it is quite distant.In the full image released by the ESA, James Webb Space Telescope, a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in...

AFD investigating smoke in northwest Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — The Austin Fire Department is investigating reports of smoke Monday morning in three areas of northwest Austin.Crews were called to McNeil Road, Palmbrook Drive and Pearson Ranch, AFD said. In a later update Monday, AFD said the fire may be in Round Rock.AFD said the call came in around 10:30 a.m.This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.

How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Wildfire season is upon us with several large fires already having burned in Central Texas over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, whether near or far, wildfires can put out a lot of harmful smoke into the air. Particulate within that smoke can be harmful to the general public, and more specifically, those with pre-existing conditions.MAP: Wildfires in Central Texas in 2023Meteorologist Kristen Currie spoke with Dr. Matthew Ashley, chief medical officer at Centre for Neuro Skills and a board member with the American Heart Association, to learn how those in sensitive groups can protect themselves from harmful toxins in wildfire smoke.Below is a transcript of their interview. Edits have been made for clarification. Kristen Currie, KXAN News: Dr. Ashley, let's first start with wildfires. Unfortunately, we're in the thick of it when it comes to fire season. We've already had our fair share of wildfires so far. Are there certain health impacts the general public nee...