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Amid high phone bills, telecom experts call for structural change, regulatory reform

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

TORONTO — Whether you’re catching a flight, opening a new bank account or picking up groceries, a small group of big names takes up most of the market share. Competition Ltd. is a Canadian Press series that explores what this means for products — and prices — in the country.———Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canadians from coast to coast are united inone message to telecom providers.“We pay way too much for telecom services and we want more options, full stop,” the minister declared on March 31 as he waved through the final approval for Rogers Communications Ltd.’s takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.Ottawa’s rubber-stamp was punctuated by his decree that the merger — through a side-deal selling Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron — would establish a viable fourth player to spur competition in the market and offer Canadians a cheaper alternative to the major companies.Other recent developments have prompted renewed attention toward competition...

Internal audit raises red flags over maintenance of graves, cemeteries for veterans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

OTTAWA — An internal report by Veterans Affairs Canada is raising red flags over the country’s military graves and cemeteries, warning that more permanent funding is needed to keep them from falling into disrepair.The report is the result of an internal audit following up on a similar review six years ago. At that time, nearly 45,000 out of the estimated 207,000 graves of Canada’s veterans were in a state of disrepair because of a lack of resources.The Trudeau government subsequently committed nearly $25 million over five years in temporary funding starting in 2018, which the new report says has largely addressed the problem by facilitating thousands of repairs.Yet auditors found that without a permanent increase to the department’s funding, that success will be short-lived.“While five-year funding for the backlog project has allowed the grave marker maintenance team to reduce the backlog of repairs significantly, maintaining an adequate inspection cycle post...

Alberta regulator reconsiders Fort Hills oilsands approval after critical report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s energy regulator is reconsidering a project it approved months ago after receiving a critical report on Fort Hills Energy’s plan to mine oilsands from a unique carbon-storing wetland. In September, the Alberta Energy Regulator approved plans to mine a portion of the McClelland Lake Wetland Complex — a large and intact wetland once considered for environmental protection that lies partly within the company’s lease. The approval came after a two-decade regulatory history and the submission by Fort Hills of plans saying it could mine about half the wetland without affecting the remainder.But in March, the Alberta Wilderness Association presented the regulator with an independent scientific analysis of the company’s plan that found significant shortfalls. It asked the regulator to revisit its decision.“We note that you have requested a reconsideration,” said the regulator’s April 12 response. “This request will be proc...

Half Way Through April—A Look at Temps and Precip; Great Lakes Ice Dwindling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

Climate reportBy WGN-TV Meteorologist Tim JoyceApril 2023 in ChicagoWe're halfway through the fourth month of the year and what a stunning run of warmth it has been so far! In the last week, we had our first 80 degree day of the year and our first string of 80 degree days. Getting four days in a row of 80 or warmer is quite rare this early in the season. This has only happened one other time in Chicago weather history going back to 1871. It was in March 2012 we also saw a string of 4 days of 80+ temps.April 1-15 Temperatures and PrecipitationLooking to the Growing SeasonThe second half of April is usually when we see our last frost/freeze dates of the year. Farmers and gardeners are starting out the coming growing season in northern Illinois and northern Indiana in good shape with soil moisture. Despite the forecast calling for cooler than normal high temps, the normal high/low is still ticking upwards. Up to 62 for a high and 43 for a low by next Saturday.U.S. Snow Cover UpdateTher...

Daily horoscope for April 17, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT today (11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT) today. After that, the Moon moves from Pisces into Aries.Happy Birthday for Monday, April 17, 2023:You are determined and do things with conviction. You are private about your true feelings, which is why you are guarded. This year is the beginning of a new nine-year cycle for you, which means be courageous. Be open to new ideas and traveling a new path. You might be a leader.ARIES(March 21-April 19)★★★★It’s Monday, and it’s a tricky day because most of this day is a Moon Alert. These times are wonderful to socialize and goof off; however, they’re poor times to make important decisions or spend money on anything other than food or gas. Forewarned is forearmed. Tonight: You win!TAURUS(April 20-May 20)★★★Shortages and delays will dog your steps because most of this day is a Moon Alert. It’s a great day to schmooze with friends and enjoy the compa...

UN migration agency sounds alarm over sea deaths as EU arrivals triple in three months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

Three times as many people sought to reach the European Union across the Mediterranean in the first three months of 2023 compared to a year before, the bloc's border agency said, as the UN migration arm decried the deadliest first quarter since 2017.Overall, the EU agency Frontex reported 54,000 irregular crossings into the bloc via all routes in the first quarter of the year, up a fifth from 2022."The Central Mediterranean route accounts for more than half of all irregular border crossings into the EU," Frontex said in a statement, adding nearly 28,000 people had arrived that way from the start of the year until the end of March, three times as many as in the same period in 2022."Organized crime groups took advantage of better weather and political volatility in some countries of departure to try to smuggle as many migrants as possible across the Central Mediterranean from Tunisia and Libya."On Tuesday (11 April), Italy's right-wing government announced a state of emergency on immi...

How Armenia lost its sovereignty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

Three separate, seemingly unrelated events occurred recently in the South Caucasus, showing that Armenia cannot coexist peacefully with its neighbours. Another military escalation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, with the latter using Iranian drones. The burning of the Azerbaijani flag at the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan.  Armenia has once again been caught helping Russia bypass sanctions. Three events, each of them outrageous on their own, but together they simply diagnose an extremely sad situation for Armenia, dangerous for its neighbours, but even more so for the Armenian state itself, and for Europe.On 11 April, Armenian military units for the first time used Iranian-made drones to attack the Azerbaijan Army. Apparently, the same drones used by the Russians in Ukraine. Following the incident, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made claims of treachery within the Armenian army. Pashinyan said that during the hostilities there ...

Salinas Valley growers say much of flood damage due to choked river

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

SALINAS – With the economic impact from the January and March flooding estimated at $1 billion, many growers are left feeling frustrated because they say much of the damage to their croplands could have been prevented.For most of the past century, growers could go into the Salinas River channel and clear out sandbars and vegetation in order to increase flow capacity and stabilize levees. During heavy rains like what was seen in January and March, the water charges down the river and then hits shallow depths because of built-up sediment, as well as large amounts of brush that impede the river’s capacity. The sediment and brush impediments have a damming effect. Water will flow along the path of least resistance, and when the channel is clogged, that path becomes cropland.The one saving grace this year, if there was one, is much of the cropland was fallow, waiting for the spring planting. Still, the Monterey County Farm Bureau estimates the amount of damage is somewhere north of 15,00...

Scientists fired from Marin’s Buck Institute win ruling on arbitration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

Two researchers who sued the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato over their termination have defeated an effort to force them into arbitration.A state appeals court ruled that Shiying Jin and Lei Lei never signed an arbitration agreement with the institute. The decision affirms an earlier decision by a judge in Marin County Superior Court.“Our clients are very pleased that the Court of Appeal vindicated their right to have their claims against the Buck Institute heard in a public forum and decided by jury of Marin County citizens rather than in a secret arbitration, behind closed doors, by a private judge,” said David Ratner, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.“The court affirmed the principle that no one can be compelled to arbitrate a claim unless they specifically agreed to have their dispute decided that way,” Ratner said.The Buck Institute hired Jin and Lei in 2019 to work for its Center for Female Reproductive Longevity and Equality. The center is studying how to preven...

Point Reyes hike shows nature’s constant transformations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:57 GMT

In the early aughties, we often took our two older children — toddlers back then — on the Bear Valley Trail in Point Reyes. On a couple of occasions when (nap)time allowed, we went as far as Arch Rock. That’s not possible today because in 2015, a few days after fissures were reported on top of the rock, it collapsed, killing one person and severely injuring another. The spur trail to that area is closed, and the coast has been recontoured afresh after the collapse.Seeing the remnants of the Point Reyes National Seashore’s Woodward Fire encapsulates nature’s resilience. Nature’s toolkit of fire, water and wind constantly remodels the lands we’re privileged to enjoy, as a recent visit to the Bear Valley area reminded us. This time, we were hiking with the same two children — now in their 20s — and a more recent addition who’s now a teen. Our journey began at the Bear Valley trailhead, but at Divide Meadow, we took a right onto the much-less-used Old Pine Trail and began a gentle ...