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Feds looking at options for a national disaster response agency as wildfires rage

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is studying options for creating a new national disaster response agency.The discussions come as Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season in history and after governments once again had to call on the military to step in and help.With several hundred fires still burning, dozens of them in western and northern Quebec, wildfire smoke is blanketing large swaths of that province and eastern and southern Ontario.Environment Canada has issued special air quality advisories in both provinces.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to update Canadians on the fire situation Wednesday afternoon.Earlier this week, he said the government is heavily focused on getting through this difficult fire season but that “absolutely” discussions need to be had about how to be better prepared as climate change makes fire seasons like this one more likely.“We have since 1982 had CIFFC, the Canadian Interagency Fire Fighting Centre, that has over th...

Bank of Canada raises interest rates as it tries to get ahead of hot economy

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

OTTAWA — As the economy continues to outperform expectations, the Bank of Canada has chosen to act sooner rather than later to clamp down on inflation, raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.Its key interest rate now sits at 4.75 per cent, the highest it’s been since 2001.“Based on the accumulation of evidence, governing council decided to increase the policy interest rate, reflecting our view that monetary policy was not sufficiently restrictive to bring supply and demand into balance and return inflation sustainably to the two per cent target,” the Bank of Canada said in a news release.It says excess demand in the economy appears to be more persistent than it had anticipated, citing a tight labour market, better-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter as well as “surprisingly strong” consumption growth.Inflation also came in hotter than expected in April, the central bank said, noting prices for a “broad range” of good and services rose m...

Shopify launches fight against ‘patent trolls’ and their funders, files Texas lawsuit

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

Shopify Inc. says it wants to push back against the trend of companies filing hundreds of patent infringement lawsuits against businesses every year, and is waging a court battle to make its point.So-called patent trolls are often shell companies who own vast portfolios of patents, which they profit from by demanding license payments from businesses within the scope of the patents or pursuing court cases against firms they allege are patent infringers.Ottawa-based e-commerce software company Shopify said Wednesday that patent trolls often target small businesses and startups that can’t afford to fight or lose a legal battle, thus stifling innovation. “Shopify and our entrepreneurs are builders and innovators. They spend years, sometimes their entire lives, creating products designed to improve the world,” said Shopify general counsel Jess Hertz in a LinkedIn post.“Patent trolls? They lazily sit back, burying hard-working entrepreneurs in piles of legal paperwork &#...

Irving Oil reviewing strategic options including possible sale

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Irving Oil says a strategic review of the company is underway and that it is looking at a series of options about its future, including a possible sale of the business.In a statement on its website, the company says consideration will be given to a new ownership structure, a full or partial sale, or a change in its portfolio of assets and how it operates them.The company says it will evaluate its options in the coming month.The statement is signed by chairman Arthur Irving, president Ian Whitcomb and executive vice-president Sarah Irving.Irving Oil operates the largest oil refinery in Canada and Ireland’s only refinery.The company also has more than 900 gas stations and a network of distribution terminals.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.The Canadian Press

K’atl’odeeche First Nation residents in N.W.T. allowed to return to reserve

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

HAY RIVER, N.W.T. — The K’at’lodeeche First Nation says residents can return to the reserve in the Northwest Territories more than three weeks after they were forced to leave their homes due to a wildfire.Residents of the reserve, home to about 300 people, along with the nearby town of Hay River, where more than 3,000 people live, were ordered to evacuate on May 14. Community members were allowed to return to Hay River, which did not sustain damage from the fire, on May 25, while the wildfire continued to burn on the reserve. The wildfire, which is now classified as being under control and was last mapped at about 32 square kilometres, damaged more than a dozen buildings on the reserve, including the First Nation’s band office. The First Nation says it is still in a state of emergency and there is no public access to the reserve.It says power, water and sewer services have yet to resume. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023. The Canadi...

The Iron Sheik, WWE Hall of Famer, dead at 81

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

Correction: A previous version of this article contained inaccurate information concerning the surviving family members of the deceased.(KTLA) – Former professional wrestler the Iron Sheik has died, according to an announcement posted to his Twitter page Wednesday morning. He was 81 years old.The Sheik — real name Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri — was born in Iran but came to prominence in the United States in 1979 with World Wrestling Entertainment, which was then known as the World Wrestling Federation.During the 1980s, he was a mainstay of professional wrestling, developing a fierce rivalry with Hulk Hogan and later Sgt. Slaughter. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.Iron Sheik poses backstage at Power 96.1's Jingle Ball 2013 at Philips Arena on Dec. 11, 2013, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Ben Rose/Getty Images for Clear Channel)More recently, his Twitter account, @the_ironsheik, drew hundreds of thousands of followers to read his often profane reactions, usually in capital let...

Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, begins erupting after 3-month pause

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Kilauea, the second largest volcano in Hawaii, began erupting on Wednesday after a three-month pause, U.S. Geological Survey officials said.The survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in a statement that a glow was detected in webcam images from Kilauea’s summit early in the morning, indicating that an eruption was occurring within the Halema’uma’u crater in the summit caldera.The images show fissures at the base of the crater generating lava flows on the crater floor's surface, the observatory said.Before issuing the eruption notice, the observatory said increased earthquake activity and changes in the patterns of ground deformation at the summit started Tuesday night, indicating the movement of magma in the subsurface.All activity is within a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on Hawaii's Big Island.The volcano’s alert level was raised to warning status and the aviation color code went to red as scientists evaluate the eruption and associated hazards...

Batman foils Italian retailer in EU trademark fight

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

(The Hill) - Batman foiled an Italian retailer on Wednesday as DC Comics successfully defended its trademark in the European Union. Reuters reported that the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second top court, ruled in favor of Warner Bros Discovery's DC Comics more than two decades after it registered its Batman logo with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Commerciale Italiana Srl had filed a challenge to the logo in 2019, arguing that the logo lacked a distinctive character and that it should be allowed for usage on clothing and carnival items. "The evidence submitted to the General Court is not sufficient to show that the EU trade mark representing a bat in an oval surround was devoid of distinctive character on the date of filing of the application for registration," the court ruled, according to the report. "For the relevant public, that distinctiveness makes it possible to associate, according to EUIPO, the goods covered by the trade mark with DC Comi...

Dean's A-List Interview: Dewayne Perkins on 'The Blackening'

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

CHICAGO — It was a most unique edition of "Dean's A-List Interview" on Wednesday as a native of the city talked about his newest project at a popular diner downtown.Actor, writer, and producer Dewayne Perkins, who grew up in Chicago and graduated from Curie High School, joined Dean Richards at Lou Mitchell's on the WGN Morning News to talk about his newest project "The Blackening," which is set to be released in theatres on June 16.They discussed the project that centers around Black friends who gather to celebrate Juneteenth weekend but find themselves trapped in a cabin with a "twisted killer."Dewayne talked with Dean about how the film came together and what viewers can expect during their conversation on the June 7 show. You can watch their full discussion on "Dean's A-List Interview" in the video above.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Developer expresses 'astonishment' over hearing to consider state park takeover

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:27:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just days after a meeting was scheduled to consider acquiring a state park through eminent domain, the developers purchasing the property have expressed their "astonishment" that the state would consider that option.Fairfield Lake State Park permanently closed to the public on Sunday. The park, about 70 miles east of Waco, has been leased to the state for decades by Vistra Energy, which formerly operated a power plant on Fairfield Lake. After the plant closed in 2018, the company gave the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department notice that it would terminate its lease.Vistra says it encouraged TPWD to put in a bid to purchase the property, but it did not. The company then entered into a contract with developer Todd Interests in April 2022. ‘Not constitutional’: Lawmakers hear how efforts to save a state park from permanent closure failed The developer plans to turn the property into a gated community with multi-million dollar homes and a golf course. TPWD's l...