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Quebec police say 22 people died in road and off-road crashes over two-week period

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

MONTREAL — Twenty-two people died in crashes on the province’s roads and trails over the past two weeks, marking a particularly deadly summer holiday period, Quebec provincial police said Tuesday.Police said there were 13 fatal road accidents, as well as four involving off-road vehicles during the two-week construction holiday, when construction workers and many other Quebecers have annual vacations.In comparison, there were 11 fatal accidents resulting in 13 deaths during the same period last year. Ten of those accidents were on the road network, while one involved an off-road vehicle.Lt. Ann Mathieu of the Quebec provincial police said the number of road deaths in the province has been creeping up. “We feel there’s an increase, so we’re trying to break that tendency,” she said in a phone interview.The majority of crashes this year were caused by what Mathieu called “human behaviour,” including illegal passing, failure to yield and distracted dri...

Ontario launches new initiatives for women in construction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

The province of Ontario is working to help more women and young people enter the construction trades with three new projects. Currently, women make up less than five per cent of Ontario’s construction workforce. The government will be investing $3.6 million in all the three of these programs.The first program, run by the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO), will help 700 tradeswoman gain leadership, communications, health and safety training and networking opportunities within the construction industry. Another project is expected to provide 1,500 people access to online resources and training tools where they explore skilled trades and find opportunities within their profession of choice.Finally, an ongoing program call the Tomorrow’s Trades program, which has previously run in Toronto, will provide 60 grade 12 students in Ottawa and London with hands-on learning opportunities.He also acknowledged that women are unaware of these jobs,...

Bring your own bag: LCBO ending paper bags in September

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

BYOB will soon mean ‘bring your own bag’ for Ontarians shopping at LCBO stores.Or buy one. Come the first week of September, those will be the only two options available, the LCBO confirmed on Tuesday. The LCBO previously announced its plan to phase out single-use paper bags, but has now provided a firm date of September 5. “This initiative will help to minimize our impact on the environment and create a more sustainable Ontario,” the LCBO said in a release. “We thank our customers for helping us to take better care of the planet.”The moves comes 15 years after the provincial liquor retailer got rid of plastic bags.In addition to bringing their own reusable bags moving forward, customers will also have the option to buy a reusable bag in-store, or use cardboard boxes or an 8-pack carrier for free.“This initiative will remove almost 135 million paper bags annually from LCBO retail stores and convenience outlets,” reads the release.The r...

Man makes initial court appearance following Indiana block party shooting that killed 1, wounded 17

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A 36-year-old central Indiana man has made his initial appearance Tuesday in court following a shooting at a massive block party that left one person dead and 17 others wounded.John L. Vance Jr. officially heard aggravated battery, criminal recklessness and gun charges against him in a Delaware County courtroom.Vance entered a not guilty plea and told a judge he intended to hire his own attorney. He remains jailed on a $105,000 bond.Shots were fired as hundreds of people attended the July 30 block party in Muncie, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis. Joseph E. Bonner III was fatally shot.The shooting occurred as police were calling the venue’s owner to shut down the gathering, authorities have said.Police were aware that the owner of a business that periodically rents out space for events was hosting a block party that got “out of control,” with between 500 and up to 1,000 in attendance, Muncie Police Chief Nathan Sloan has said.Vance was ar...

Who’s in, who might be out: Eight candidates have qualified for the first Republican debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — With two weeks until the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, eight candidates say they have met qualifications to be on stage in Milwaukee, with former Vice President Mike Pence announcing this week he had secured enough donors.But a handful of candidates in the broad GOP field are running short on time to make the cut.To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates need to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.A look at who’s in, who’s (maybe) out and who’s still working on making it:WHO’S QUALIFIED DONALD TRUMP The current front-runner long ago satisfied the polling and donor requirements. But he is considering boycotting and holding a competing event.Campaign advis...

$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot is among the largest in US history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

Lottery players will have another shot Tuesday night at a massive Mega Millions prize that ranks among the largest jackpots in U.S. history.The estimated $1.58 billion prize has been gradually building for months thanks to 31 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The last time someone won the game’s top prize was April 18.Each drawing without a winner pushes the prize closer to the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that someone in California won last year. The second largest in size was in 2016, when the Powerball jackpot reached a nearly identical amount of $1.586 billion.Mega Millions jackpot winners are so rare thanks to odds of one in 302.6 million.The $1.58 billion payout would go to a winner who opts for an annuity, doled out over 30 years. But people usually prefer a lump sum option, which for Tuesday’s jackpot would be an estimated $783.3 million.The money would be subject to federal taxes. Many states also tax lottery winnings.Mega Millions is played in 45 ...

Once Colombia’s most-wanted drug lord, the kingpin known as Otoniel gets 45 years in prison in US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For years, the man known as Otoniel was seen as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords, the elusive boss of a cartel and paramilitary group with a blood-drenched grip on much of northern Colombia.On Tuesday, Dairo Antonio Úsuga was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the U.S. after saying he accepted responsibility for his deeds. “I apologize to the governments of the United States and of Colombia and to the victims of the crimes that I have committed,” Úsuga, 51, said through a court interpreter. He had pleaded guilty in January to high-level drug trafficking charges, admitting he oversaw the smuggling of tons of U.S.-bound cocaine and acknowledging “there was a lot of violence with the guerillas and the criminal gangs.” The U.S. agreed not to seek a life sentence in order to get him extradited from Colombia. Úsuga and his lawyers sought to cast him as a product of his homeland’s woes — a man born into remote rural poverty, surrounded by gueri...

Pence says he’s now met the polling and donor qualifications for the first Republican debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday he has qualified for the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential cycle, securing the required number of donors with just two weeks until candidates gather in Milwaukee.According to his campaign, Pence has amassed 40,000 unique donors, checking off the final debate requirement set by the Republican National Committee.Pence becomes the eighth candidate to announce qualification for the first debate, joining former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.Pence had long ago met the RNC’s polling requirements for the Aug. 23 debate — at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21 — but struggled to notch the mandated number of donor...

Tim Hortons drives RBI’s sales growth but exec chairman wants more profitability

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

TORONTO — Restaurant Brands International Inc. says it delivered double-digit sales growth in its latest quarter amid higher revenues at Tim Hortons and Burger King, but its executive chairman wants more to be done to drive store-level profitability.“I’d put the quarter solidly in the win column, but we also still have plenty of opportunities,” said Patrick Doyle on Tuesday during a conference call with analysts.Doyle, who was chief executive of pizza chain Domino’s when it underwent a transformation, has been observing the Toronto-based parent company behind Tims, Burger King, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Firehouse Subs since he joined RBI last November.His introduction to RBI has come as the brand has been charting its rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed people to work remotely and forgo office coffee breaks and other dining out occasions that RBI restaurants fuelled.As Doyle approaches his one-year mark with the company, quick-serve restauran...

Man, 67, found stabbed to death on South Side; person in custody

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:35 GMT

CHICAGO — A person is in custody after a 67-year-old man was found stabbed to death on the city's South Side.Police said the man was found unresponsive in the 7100 block of South Cyril Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood around 9 p.m. Monday.According to police, the man sustained fatal lacerations to the head and lower right leg following a verbal altercation that became physical. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Neighbor charged in fatal shooting of 9-year-old girl in Portage Park An offender is in custody and charges are pending, police said.Area detectives are investigating the incident.