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City of Toronto set to close Rosedale Valley Road on weekend for bridge removal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

City of Toronto crews are set to close down part of Rosedale Valley Road in order to demolish the Glen Road pedestrian bridge as part of an ongoing replacement project.Officials said in an update posted on social media that Rosedale Valley Road between Park Road and Bayview Avenue will be closed, weather-permitting, between 11:59 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.The closure is part of an initiative to replace the Glen Road pedestrian bridge and the pedestrian tunnel under Bloor Street East.RELATED: Richmond on growing list of streets downtown Toronto under constructionWork on the construction project began in 2022 and officials said crews have removed the existing timber deck, excavated the north side of the tunnel and created an access path along Bloor Street East (the street has seen lane reductions east of Sherbourne Street related to the project).Project managers said three road closures will be needed in 2023 to remove the existing bridge and install the new one.In addition ...

Millions who rely on Medicaid may be booted from program

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — If you get health care coverage through Medicaid, you might be at risk of losing that coverage over the next year.Roughly 84 million people are covered by the government-sponsored program, which has grown by 20 million people since January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But as states begin checking everyone’s eligibility for Medicaid for the first time in three years, as many as 14 million people could lose access to that health care coverage. A look at why so many people may no longer qualify for the Medicaid program over the next year and what you need to know if you’re one of those people who relies on the program. WHAT’S HAPPENING TO MEDICAID? At the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government prohibited states from kicking people off Medicaid, even if they were no longer eligible. Before the pandemic, people would regularly lose their Medicaid coverage if they started making too much money to qualify for the program, gained heal...

US to let MLB stars play for Cuba in World Baseball Classic

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — The United States will permit Major League Baseball players from Cuba to represent their home country in the World Baseball Classic next year.The decision announced Dec. 24 in a news release by the Baseball Federation of Cuba (FCB) could be a big step in once again turning Cuba’s national team into heavy hitters on an international stage.Major League Baseball confirmed that the U.S. granted the license to FCB. It clears the way for MLB stars such as José Abreu, Yordan Alvarez, Randy Arozarena, Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert to play for Cuba in the WBC in March if they choose to accept a potential invitation.It’s up to each country’s national governing body to pick the players on its WBC team. Final 30-man rosters are due Feb. 7 for the WBC, which begins March 8 with Cuba facing the Netherlands in Taiwan.While the sport of choice for much of Latin America is soccer, baseball dominates in Cuba. The island has gained fame around the world for its baseball talent...

Ottawa commits to ‘targeted’ bail reforms that would address repeat violent offenders

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Justice Minister David Lametti says the federal government will move forward quickly on “targeted reforms” to the Criminal Code that would update Canada’s bail system.Lametti says the reforms will address challenges posed by repeat violent offenders and those facing firearms and other weapons charges. He made the commitment this afternoon following what he called a good and productive meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts.Premiers, federal Conservatives and law enforcement leaders have ramped up pressure on Ottawa since the beginning of the year to make bail more restrictive. A January letter from all 13 premiers to the prime minister called for a “reverse onus” system for some offences, which would require a person seeking bail to prove why they should not stay behind bars.Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the provinces are united in calling for substantive changes, and he says they will continue to put forward mor...

Stocks fall as Wall Street wonders what will break next

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell Friday after the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade raised worries on Wall Street about what’s next to break as interest rates keep climbing.The S&P 500 was 1.4% lower in late trading after scrapping back from deeper losses earlier in the day. It’s on pace for its worst week since September. That’s despite a highly anticipated report on Friday showing pay raises for workers are slowing and other signals Wall Street wants to see of cooling pressure on inflation.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 349 points, or 1.1%, at 31,904, as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% lower.Some of the market’s sharpest drops were again coming from the financial industry, where stocks tanked for a second day. Regulators took over Silicon Valley Bank in a surprise midday move after shares of its parent company, SVB Financial, plunged more than 60% this week. The company, which served the industry surrounding ...

CP NewsAlert: B.C. dropping vaccine requirement for provincial public servants

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

VICTORIA — British Columbia is rescinding its policy that required provincial public servants to be vaccinated against COVID-19.The province says that from April 3, BC Public Service employees will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination.More comingThe Canadian Press

Ontario could ban TikTok in public schools, Lecce says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

One day after the province announced a ban of the social media platform TikTok on government-operated devices, Ontario’s education minister said they’re considering doing the same in public schools.Stephen Lecce was asked about the possibility at a press conference in Mississauga, admitting that officials are perturbed about the impact TikTok has on children.“That is a decision point I expect we will communicate on,” Lecce said. “We obviously share a very profound concern about the privacy impacts for young people.”When it comes to those specific effects on younger people, a Dec. 2022 study by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate found that TikTok could surface potentially harmful content related to suicide and eating disorders to teenagers within minutes of them creating an account.That study also revealed that the app suggested videos about body image and mental health roughly every 39 seconds within 30 minutes.“I am concerned...

'The Emily Talk' aims to help local first responders treat people with disabilities

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

PORTER COUNTY, Ind. — For the last eight years, a father and daughter in Northwest Indiana have been educating first responders and students on how to work with people with disabilities.Tom Felter Jr., of Hebron, has been in emergency services since 1986. He's always noticed a void in training first responders with how to treat people who have emotional and physical disabilities.For the last 27 years, he proudly holds another job as father to Emily Felter — who has Down syndrome.Knowing he wanted to combine his experience as Emily's dad and a veteran first responder, Felter Jr. said one moment in Maryland told him to mobilize.In 2013, 26-year-old Ethan Saylor was at a movie theater in Fredericksburg, Maryland watching "Zero Dark Thirty." After the movie was over, Saylor wanted to watch it again — something Felter Jr. said is typical with people with disabilities. "If we get somewhere and Emily is not ready to go in, we aren't going in," Felter Jr. said. "On the flip side, If we are ...

Here's how the 4 Americans abducted in Mexico were found

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men, people wearing blindfolds and plenty of activity around a ranch.Authorities headed for the rural area east of Matamoros on Tuesday morning, leaving the highway and driving remote dirt roads looking for the described location, according to Mexican investigative documents viewed Friday by The Associated Press.Finally, they saw the wooden shack far from any homes or businesses, surrounded by brush, and a white pickup parked outside that matched the one the Americans had been loaded into last Friday. Then they began to hear someone shouting, “Help!”Inside the shack, the documents said, Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric Williams were blindfolded. Beside them were the bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, wrapped in blankets and plastic bags. When authorities arrived, McGee and Williams shouted desperately to them in English.A guard ...

3 Texas women sued for wrongful death after assisting with abortion

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:08:00 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) -- A Texas man whose ex-wife terminated her pregnancy is suing three women who assisted her under the state’s wrongful death statute, the first such case brought since the state’s near-total ban on abortion last summer.Marcus Silva is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, the former solicitor general of Texas and architect of the state’s prohibition on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. The lawsuit is filed in state court in Galveston County, where Silva lives.Silva alleges that his now ex-wife learned she was pregnant in July 2022, the month after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and conspired with two friends to illegally obtain abortion-inducing medication and terminate the pregnancy.The friends texted with the woman, sending her information about Aid Access, an international group that provides abortion-inducing medication through the mail, the lawsuit alleges. Text messages show they instead found a way to acquire the medication in Houston, where the t...