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Air quality study finds elevated levels of carcinogen across Hamilton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

A University of Toronto professor says residents of Hamilton, Ont., could be inhaling the chemical equivalent of one or two cigarettes per week — at minimum — due to elevated levels of a cancer-causing compound in the air. Matthew Adams, an air contaminants researcher working on behalf of the City of Hamilton and the non-profit Environment Hamilton, says air quality monitors installed on street poles across the city found concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene, or BaP, higher than provincial criteria. He says the BaP concentrations are highest in Hamilton’s industrial region, but also elevated across the municipality’s urban areas. Adams says the city has known about its BaP problem for some time, but the carcinogen’s ubiquity across the entire city is surprising. Long-term exposure to the chemical, created by burning tobacco, wood or coal, and by operating gas-powered vehicles, can increase cancer risk. Hamilton’s steelmakers have been known BaP emitte...

Ontario horse trainer suspended for suspicious death of racehorse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

A racehorse trainer has been suspended from the sport for three years and fined $11,000 for the suspicious death of a horse.The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) investigation found that trainer Carol Voyer violated multiple rules of standardbred racing.It says the violations included an act of neglect, providing misleading information regarding the whereabouts of the horse, engaging in conduct not in the best interest of racing and failing to report the death of the racehorse.The AGCO says the trainer is suspended until July 2026.The commission acts as the regulating body for all forms of horseracing in Ontario, including the operation of racetracks and racing participants.All AGCO decisions can be appealed to the Horse Racing Appeal Panel, an independent body mandated to hear appeals of decisions.

Nigerian leader plans $10 monthly handout to poor households after gas subsidy ends

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s new President Bola Tinubu has announced his government’s plan to pay $10 a month to poor households to ease the growing hardship caused by the scrapping of subsidies on gasoline.In a letter to the Nigerian Senate, which was read during Thursday’s sitting, Tinubu said 12 million households will benefit from the handout for a period of six months. The government plans to fund it through an $800 million World Bank loan for which Tinubu is seeking legislators’ approval.“It is expected that the program will stimulate economic activities in the informal sector and improve nutrition, health, education, and human capital development of beneficiaries’ households,” he said of the social welfare initiative.Tinubu scrapped the gasoline subsidy on his first day in office at the end of May, ending a decades-long program that made gasoline affordable for many but which authorities said was expensive and economically unsustainable. The subsidies cost...

Firefighter killed while battling cargo ship fire is posthumously promoted during funeral

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

NEWARK, N.J., (AP) — A firefighter who was fatally injured along with a colleague while battling a massive fire aboard a cargo ship docked in New Jersey last week was posthumously promoted to captain during his funeral service on Thursday.Hundreds of mourners, including dozens of uniformed firefighters and law enforcement officers, came to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark to honor Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45, a Newark native who had been a city firefighter for nine years. He was recalled as a dedicated public servant who was always trying to make his friends and colleagues laugh.“Our city mourns grievously for one of our heroes — a Newark boy that made his way here with a proud and close-knit family and found a noble and honorable profession,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told the mourners. “We close our eyes and bow our heads collectively as one city, knowing that this man that we lay to rest here today was one of the very best amongst us,”Acabou and another Newark fi...

Josh Ross, The Reklaws lead the pack with most CCMA Award nominations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

HAMILTON — Country crooner Josh Ross leads the pack with six nominations at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards. The CCMA announced the nominations Thursday, saying Ross is in contention for fans’ choice award, male artist of the year, breakthrough artist, single of the year and video of the year. Brother-sister duo The Reklaws, who are hosting the show in Hamilton, nabbed five nominations, including for musical collaboration of the year and group or duo of the year. Also with five nods is Dallas Smith, who’s up for entertainer of the year and video of the year, and Tenille Townes, who’s in the running for female artist of the year and songwriter of the year.Ross, The Reklaws, Smith and Townes will also all be performing at the televised ceremony, along with Sam Hunt and the American rock band Train. Other notable nominees include Shania Twain, who’s up for entertainer of the year and female artist of the year, and Orville Peck, who is vying for bre...

Las Vegas police officer’s brother testifies against him about ‘desperate’ casino heist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The younger brother of a Las Vegas police officer testified against him Thursday, painting a clear picture for the jury of how the two successfully pulled off a casino heist off the Strip.“Caleb told me that it was gonna be his operation and when it was happening I had to do everything he said because he had the knowledge and the skill,” Josiah Rogers said, referring to his brother’s work in law enforcement. Josiah Rogers admitted on the stand that he was the getaway driver in one of the heists, using an unregistered pickup truck with no plates. He said he knew his brother “desperately” needed money after a longtime struggle with gambling. While jurors scribbled down notes during Josiah Rogers’ testimony, Caleb Rogers avoided eye contact with his brother. Josiah Rogers has been granted immunity from prosecution for sharing details about how they rehearsed and then carried out the November 2021 robbery at Red Rock Casino.Prosecutors for the federal government have ar...

Hollywood actors join screenwriters in historic industry-stopping strike as contract talks collapse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down.Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.“A strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight. Outside Netflix's Hollywood offices, picketing screenwriters chanted “Pay Your Actors!” immediately after the strike was announced.It’s the first strike for actors from f...

'I'm a sociopath. I want to hurt people': FBI cracks Greenwood mall shooter's phone; find Nazi propaganda, suicide note

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

GREENWOOD, Ind. — Nazi propaganda, a suicide note, a confession of wanting to kill himself due to depression, sexual isolation, mental instability and more. These were part of more than 3,000 images and 200 videos recovered from the Greenwood Park Mall shooter's cell phone by the FBI. The Greenwood Police Department and the City of Greenwood announced the cell phone findings on Thursday after the phone was sent to the FBI in the wake of the July 17 mall shooting that claimed three victims' lives and the shooter. Greenwood Park Mall shooting: What we know Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood was the lone shooter who opened fire in the food court of Greenwood Park Mall with a Sig Sauer M400 semi-automatic rifle at 6 p.m. on a Sunday. Sapirman had a backpack full of ammunition and may have shot several more shoppers had he not been shot eight times by Elisjsha Dicken. Dicken had been visiting the mall with his girlfriend and opened fire on Sapirman from 30 yards away with his...

Illinois woman living with broken needle in her spine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – Amy Garrison lives on a quiet farm with her husband in southern Illinois. She enjoys the peace of Fayette County, but she is living in constant pain.Garrison has a portion of an epidural needle is stuck in her spine, which she said was left there nearly 20 years ago when she gave birth at a naval hospital in Florida. Garrison said an anesthesiologist at that hospital broke off about 2 inches of the needle in her back, and never told her what had happened.The needle was not discovered until years later. “I’m just tired of hurting — all the time,” she said.(Courtesy of Amy Garrison)Garrison filed a lawsuit, but a judge dismissed her case. At the time, her story generated national headlines.“Every day, I take medicine just so I can get through the day,” she said. "And I'm just tired of taking meds."After consulting with co-workers and friends, Garrison decided to turn to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis for help. "I went up to Barnes and they couldn't believe it. ...

Actors union votes to strike, shutting down production

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down.Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.“A strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight. Outside Netflix's Hollywood offices, picketing screenwriters chanted “Pay Your Actors!” immediately after the strike was announced.It’s the first strike fo...