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Column: Partisan lawmakers snipe over gun violence. Does latest child massacre change anything?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

South and southwest suburban residents might see the White Sox win another World Series sooner than America enacts any meaningful federal laws to address gun violence.That’s the sense in the Southland and elsewhere this week as the nation reacted along partisan lines to another horrific mass shooting that left innocent children dead. Heroic police officers killed an assailant who slaughtered three 9-year-olds and three adults Monday at a Christian elementary school in Nashville.Congressional Republicans immediately defended gun rights.“We’re not going to fix it,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told a reporter. “Criminals are going to be criminals.”“It’s just premature to talk about it,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said of reforming federal gun laws.“There’s no such thing as gun violence,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., adding that unborn fetuses aborted from wombs was a far greater tragedy than bullets fired from AK-4...

Aaron Judge picks up where he left off, Gerrit Cole dominates in Yankees’ Opening Day win over Giants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

Aaron Judge did his best to bring his offseason alter ego to life on Thursday, setting fire to the Giants with his first swing of the 2023 season.Judge, aka “Arson” after an erroneous report sent him to San Francisco over the winter, took Giants pitcher Logan Webb deep in his first at-bat on Opening Day in the Yankees’ 5-0 win.The first-inning solo shot, a 422-foot drive into Monument Park, started the scoring for the Yankees as Judge picked up exactly where he left off after clubbing a team and American League-record 62 dingers a season ago.The reigning American League MVP followed his blast up with an RBI bloop in the seventh.Gerrit Cole, meanwhile, did some record-setting of his own on Thursday, notching a new franchise Opening Day mark with 11 strikeouts. Webb claimed the same record in the Giants’ history books with 12 strikeouts, though he allowed four earned runs in the loss.Cole didn’t surrender any over six frames and held San Francisco to just...

Going to Padres Opening Day? Here's what to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres Opening Day is hours away and fans are already gearing up for the team's return to Petco Park.The team will be playing against fellow MLB National League West team, the Colorado Rockies, in a four-game series that ends on Sunday. First pitch for the opening game will be at 6:40 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 1:10 p.m., but the Padres announced Wednesday they had pushed back the start time due to weather. Read More: Padres 2023 Opening Day For those heading downtown Thursday, here's a breakdown of things to help you plan. Getting in to Petco ParkAccording to the team, fans will be allowed into the stadium at 4:30 p.m.All bags are prohibited from the ballpark unless they are smaller than seven inches by ten inches, infant or medical bags. Service animals are allowed in the ballpark, while other pets or emotional support animals are not.For a full list of what is and is not allowed in the park, head to the Padres' website.Where to parkGiven Petco P...

House passes bill creating carve-outs for farmers in Canada’s carbon pricing scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

OTTAWA — A private member’s bill that would create specific carve-outs for farmers in Canada’s carbon pricing scheme has passed in the House of Commons. The bill would exempt farmers from paying for emissions from natural gas and propane they use for certain activities performed on their farms, such as drying grain, preparing feed, irrigating and heating barns. It passed with the support of Conservative, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green Party MPs, with a few Liberals, including agriculture committee chair Kody Blois, joining the opposition parties to vote in favour.Theprivate member’s bill introduced by Conservative MP Ben Lobb in February 2022, which would not exempt farmers from the carbon price for activities performed off-site, will now be debated in the Senate.Farmer groups have said they are facing rising production costs, and the proposed law would give them critical financial relief from rising costs. The Agriculture Carbon Alliance, which was created by indus...

Key recommendations of Nova Scotia mass shooting inquiry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

TRURO, N.S. — Here are some of the main recommendations from the public inquiry into the mass shooting that claimed 22 lives in Nova Scotia on April 18-19, 2020:— An external, independent review of the RCMP, including a review of the contract system under which the RCMP provide policing services to much of rural Canada.— After the review, identification by the federal public safety minister of tasks that are suitable to a federal policing agency and ones that are better reassigned to other agencies.— Closing of the RCMPs training depot in Regina and establishment of a Canadian Police College. The RCMP should phase out the depot model by 2032 and create a three-year degree-based model of police education for all police services in Canada.— A review of the RCMP’s critical incident response training, to be completed within six months.— Revision of the RCMP’s national communications policies to state clearly that the objective is to provide accurate i...

S&P/TSX composite gains more than 100 points, U.S. markets also rise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points Thursday with broad-based gains led by the base metals sector, while U.S. markets also rose. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.34 points at 19,940.99.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 141.43 points at 32,859.03. The S&P 500 index was up 23.02 points at 4,050.83,while the Nasdaq composite was up 87.24 points at 12,013.47.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.89 cents US compared with 73.66 cents US on Wednesday.The May crude contract was up US$1.40 at US$74.37 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.10 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was up US$13.20 at US$1,997.70 an ounce and the May copper contract was down half a penny at US$4.09 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Camila Cabello celebrates grandmother’s novel and strength

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Camila Cabello credits the strong women in her life for her success as an artist and a person. So it was only natural that she was there to celebrate her grandmother’s milestone — the publication of a novel.The Spanish-language book, “Los boleros que he vivido” (“The Boleros that I Have Lived”), has been a decades-long dream project of Cabello’s grandmother, Mercedes Rodriguez.The “Havana” singer traveled last week to Málaga, Spain, to celebrate and help promote Rodriguez’s book, which tells the story of a woman who separates from her husband after many years of marriage. The story across its 329 pages weaves through the woman’s efforts to reunite with her daughter and granddaughters in the U.S. — a tale that mirrors events in the lives of Cabello’s family.“In the end I finished it very quickly, really, very quickly, because it’s the story of my life and I still have a good memory,” Rodriguez said.As Rodriguez, 75, discu...

Ukraine, Finland looking for Canadian help to rebuild economy amid war: ambassadors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada is urging Canadian businesses to see her country’s eventual recovery as an economic bonanza worth investing in.“We are fighting, we will win the war with your support and then we’ll have a big path together to rebuild Ukraine,” Yuliya Kovaliv told a Thursday lunch event hosted by corporate groups in Ottawa.“Many of you who are from the private sector, you need to start to think about your strategy in participating in the rebuilding of Ukraine,” she said.Kovaliv told the Canadian Club of Ottawa that Ukraine will need a Marshall Plan-style funding package to get back on its feet when the war ends, and Canadian businesses should strategize about what role they can play.Finland’s ambassador to Canada, Roy Eriksson, also told the lunch that Canadian firms can help replace his country’s trade with neighbouring Russia, saying both are familiar with designing products that work in cold climates....

Stocks head toward winning March as Wall Street’s fear falls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed higher again as more fear evaporates from Wall Street. The S&P 500 added 0.6% Thursday, its fifth gain in the last six days. The benchmark index is headed for a gain in March after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates. Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped restore confidence. Also boosting stocks have been big bets that the Federal Reserve may cut rates in coming months. But such expectations are also raising concerns of their own for some professionals on Wall Street. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising Thursday, keeping Wall Street’s main measure of health on track for a winning month, as a bit more fear evaporates from markets. The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in late trading. It pared an earlier, bigger gain, but it’s still on pace for a fifth up day in the last six. It’s been on a...

North Dakota governor vetoes transgender pronouns bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

North Dakota’s Republican governor vetoed a bill that would generally prohibit public schools teachers and staff from referring to transgender students by pronouns other than those reflecting the sex assigned to them at birth. Gov. Doug Burgum’s veto on Thursday could be reversed by the state Legislature. If it became law, public school teachers and employees would be barred from using a transgender student’s preferred pronoun unless they have permission from the student’s parents as well as a school administrator. The bill would also prohibit government agencies from requiring employees to use a transgender colleague’s preferred pronoun.The proposal comes as Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have drafted hundreds of laws this year to push back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, particularly seeking to regulate aspects of transgender people’s lives, including gender-affirming health care, bathroom use, athletics and drag performances.Although the bill also addresse...