Effort to find 2 children lost in a Pennsylvania flash flood may soon pivot to an underwater search

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Effort to find 2 children lost in a Pennsylvania flash flood may soon pivot to an underwater search WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — A broad effort to find two young siblings who were swept away from their car during flash flooding in the Philadelphia suburbs over the weekend may soon pivot to underwater searching, authorities said Tuesday.Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer provided an update near the search area, saying the team was still looking for Matilda Sheils, 2, and her 9-month-old brother Conrad Sheils. If the children are not located by day’s end, Brewer said, the focus will be on the water, using dive teams. With the search in a fourth day, officials acknowledged the many that have asked to volunteer to help but said they are not needed. Brewer asked people to avoid the area.Some 100 officials, as well as drones and cadaver dogs, have combed the area near the creek that drains into the Delaware River. The search has covered about 117 acres (47 hectares), with those on land logging some 160 miles (257 kilometers), often going back and forth over the same ground, he sai...

Opponents of telescope development in Hawaii urge UN to hold Canada accountable

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Opponents of telescope development in Hawaii urge UN to hold Canada accountable OTTAWA — Canada is under fire for its support of a controversial telescope slated for development on Hawai’i Island, the largest island in the state, over allegations the project violates Indigenous rights.A group of academics and advocacy organizations asked the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last Friday for early warning and urgent action on the Thirty Meter Telescope development.“The government of Canada is a major partner and supporter of the TMT project, which for decades Native Hawaiians have challenged legally and opposed physically,” said Uahikea Maile, the director of Indigenous-led research group Ziibiing Lab and a professor at the University of Toronto.“We must not tolerate the status quo of Canadian human-rights violations against Indigenous Peoples, whether in or beyond its borders.”The telescope is slated to be built on Mauna Kea, a place researchers say has ideal observation conditions because it̵...

Goodfood Market shares up after reporting $1.2M Q3 loss, improved margins

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Goodfood Market shares up after reporting $1.2M Q3 loss, improved margins MONTREAL — Goodfood Market Corp. reported a loss of $1.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $21.1 million a year earlier as its sales fell, but margins improved.Shares in the meal kit company closed up 5.5 cents or just over 12 per cent at 51 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.The company says the loss amounted to two cents per share for the quarter ended June 3 compared with a loss of 28 cents per share a year earlier.Net sales for what was Goodfood’s third quarter totalled $42.1 million, down from $67.0 million in the same quarter last year.The company says the decrease was mainly driven by fewer active customers and its decision to discontinue its on-demand offering, offset in part by an increase in average order value.The company’s gross margin for the quarter amounted to 41.0 per cent, up from 26.2 per cent a year earlier.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:FOOD)The Canadian...

Iowa governor plans to appeal block on restrictive abortion law

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Iowa governor plans to appeal block on restrictive abortion law DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Tuesday that plans are in progress to appeal a temporary block on the state’s new, restrictive abortion law, previewing a likely emotional court battle that could take months to resolve.Reynolds told reporters at the Iowa Capitol that her staff is working with lawyers in Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office to work out the details, so “it’s just a matter of time,” she said.The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a special session last week, and it went into effect Friday, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and on Monday, Judge Joseph Seidlin granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality. Abortion providers said they scrambled to fit in as many appointments as possible before the ...

RCMP officers’ group says Mounties shouldn’t be ‘scapegoats’ in police shortage

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

RCMP officers’ group says Mounties shouldn’t be ‘scapegoats’ in police shortage VANCOUVER — The voice for almost 20,000 RCMP says its members should not be used as “political pawns” in the dispute between the British Columbia government and the City of Surrey over its policing situation. Brian Sauvé, the president of the National Police Federation, says in an open letter to Premier David Eby that the government’s lack of funding has led to staff shortages and it’s unfair to blame the Mounties for not filling their vacancies.The staffing vacancies were a key reason the B.C. government had recommended the City of Surrey continue its transition to an independent police force, despite the newly elected mayor’s promise that the city would go back to the RCMP for its policing. The provincial government is expected to announce its decision Wednesday on whether Surrey will be allowed to abandon its transition to a municipal police force and revert to RCMP. Sauvé says in the letter that Eby’s recent attention toward RCMP recruiting is...

Police haul more items from home of man charged in Gilgo Beach killings

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Police haul more items from home of man charged in Gilgo Beach killings MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Police carted more boxes of potential evidence Tuesday out of the Long Island home of Rex Heuermann, who has been charged with killing at least three women and leaving their remains alongside a remote stretch of beach highway.Items pulled out of Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park in recent days have included more than 200 firearms, a large doll in a glass case, a large portrait of a woman with a bruised face and a filing cabinet.Investigators, some dressed in “crime lab” T-shirts and protective suits, were seen Tuesday carting away a desktop computer, a large picture frame, a mirror and many other household items.It remains to be seen whether any of those items will help authorities build their case against Heuermann, an architect who was charged Friday with murdering three women and was said by a prosecutor to be a suspect in a fourth slaying.Heuermann has denied killing the women, according to his attorney, Michael Brown. Since his arrest, Heuer...

Galchenyuk apologizes, says he is checking into player assistance program

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Galchenyuk apologizes, says he is checking into player assistance program Alex Galchenyuk will enter the NHL and NHLPA’s player assistance program and has apologized to fans and local police for the actions that led to his contract being terminated by the Arizona Coyotes earlier this month.Galchenyuk issued the apology and announcement in letters addressed to Coyotes leadership, his teammates and hockey fans on his Twitter account. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was the first to report the news.“My behavior last week was deeply offensive, uncalled for, horrendous, embarrassing, disrespectful and just plain awful,” Galchenyuk wrote. “By checking myself into the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program, I hope to get the help I need to ensure I never make a mistake like this again.”The Coyotes terminated Galchenyuk’s contract on July 14, less than two weeks after adding the forward to the organization in free agency. ESPN also reported that NHLPA president Marty Walsh is considering filing a grievance over the Coyotes’ terminating o...

S&P/TSX composite gains 150 points led by energy stocks, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

S&P/TSX composite gains 150 points led by energy stocks, U.S. stock markets also rise TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index gained almost 150 points, led by strength in the energy sector, while U.S. stock markets also rose.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 149.78 points at 20,376.57.Markets in Canada breathed a “sigh of relief” Tuesday after the latest inflation report, said Craig Fehr, investment strategist at Edward Jones. Inflation in June slowed to 2.8 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent in May, said Statistics Canada. “It’s generally consistent with what we saw last week in the U.S., and I would say broadly consistent with the trends that we’ve been seeing in consumer prices for some time now,” said Fehr. However, the fall in headline inflation was helped by the fact that energy costs are a lot lower than they were a year ago and core inflation measures aren’t quite as rosy as the headline suggests, said Fehr.“Core inflation is still sufficiently elevated to keep the Bank of Canada on guard,” he said, but it isn’t so high as to warrant a “new, more aggress...

Toddler dead after falling from high rise balcony on South Side

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Toddler dead after falling from high rise balcony on South Side CHICAGO — A toddler has died after falling from a high rise balcony on the South Side Tuesday.According to the Chicago Fire Department, crews were dispatched to the 500 block of East 33rd Place on the report of a person who fell around 12 p.m. on Tuesday. Postal worker attacked in attempted armed robbery in River Grove The Chicago Fire Department found a small toddler, believed to be a girl, who fell from a balcony. Authorities did not say what floor she fell from.The toddler was transported to Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition, but were later pronounced dead.No further information has been provided at this time.WGN News will update this story once more information becomes available.

Northwestern University president announces new measures amidst hazing scandal

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:23:38 GMT

Northwestern University president announces new measures amidst hazing scandal EVANSTON, Ill. — For the first time in over a week, the leader of Northwestern University is speaking out as a football hazing scandal continues to make national headlines.President Michael Schill released a letter to the faculty and staff of the university on Tuesday afternoon in which he said he intends "to do whatever is necessary to address this situation" in the athletic department.In doing so, he announced a pair of external reviews that will take place, with the first concerning the school's "accountability mechanism" along with its ability to detect threats to student-athletes. Northwestern will also have an outside firm look at the culture of athletics at the school and "its relationship to the academic mission." First lawsuit filed in Northwestern hazing scandal Schill said that both will be conducted with feedback from faculty, staff, and students at the school and will be made publicly available.This comes as the hazing scandal with the football program has led to the ...