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Howie takes on City Hall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

If the persistent rumors about ambulance calls to Mayor Michelle Wu’s house are so “baseless,” then why has the City of Boston been stonewalling me for 14 months in my attempts to obtain the very records that will put the lie to the scurrilous gossip once and for all?It’s not like I haven’t been patient. I filed my first Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the city on Oct. 9, 2022.Fourteen months ago.The secretary of state’s Public Records Division just ordered the city to turn over the documents, known as Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) records, that show all police, fire and ambulance calls to her home.Those records do exist. I sent the hackerama CAD documents for randomly selected addresses in the city, and guess what – they all included ambulance calls. They’re very easy to get, unless you ask for the mayor’s house.First they refused to send me the CAD records for the mayor’s address. Last December, they sent me some worthless spreadsheets and basically claimed they di...

Japan expresses concern about US Osprey aircraft continuing to fly without details of fatal crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top government spokesperson expressed concern on Friday that the U.S. military is continuing to fly Osprey aircraft in the country without providing adequate information about a fatal crash this week in southwestern Japan despite repeated requests that it do so.One crew member was killed and seven others are missing, along with the aircraft. The cause of Wednesday’s crash, which occurred during a training mission, is still under investigation. Search operations widened Friday with additional U.S. military personnel joining the effort, while Japanese coast guard and military ships focused on an undersea search using sonar.The Pentagon said Thursday that U.S. Ospreys continue to operate in Japan, and Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said she was not aware of an official request from Japan to ground them.“We are concerned about the continuing Osprey flights despite our repeated requests and the absence of a sufficient explanation about their safety”...

In the news today: CSIS whistleblower hoping for change in wake of rape allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…CSIS whistleblower hopes they ‘lit a match’ with allegations of rape and harassmentA CSIS officer who is among a group of whistleblowers raising allegations of sexual assault and harassment in the spy agency’s British Columbia office says she hopes their actions have “lit a match” to change what she calls a “dark and disturbing place.”She says she and her colleagues want to “force change” at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, where they say they suffered abuse and ill-treatment at the hands of senior colleagues in the agency’s physical surveillance unit in B.C.Her comments come after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called their allegations “devastating,” and said everyone should feel protected at work no matter how secretive their duties. Israeli warplanes hit targets in Gaza as it r...

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

VANCOUVER — Kay Matthews doesn’t mince words when asked about the state of businesses fighting to survive in downtown cores across Ontario.“We’re struggling,” said Matthews, executive director of the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association. “We’re seeing the impacts from one end to the province to the other … For the first time, Ottawa’s even seeing economic impacts that they’ve never seen in past.”The experiences in Ontario’s cities are echoed across Canada, as downtowns grapple with high vacancy rates, the post-pandemic work culture and the prospect that crowds of office workers may never return in full.That could spur a shift in the fundamental nature of Canada’s downtown neighbourhoods, but experts say such a major alteration will take time, requiring large investments and changes to infrastructure to bring people back.Members of the International Downtown Association Canada gathered in November in Ottawa to...

Statistics Canada to release November job report today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is set to release its November labour force survey this morning.The report will shed light on the unemployment rate last month, as well as whether the economy added or lost jobs.RBC says it expects employment rose by 15,000, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.8 per cent as the population rapidly grows.Canada’s unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in October.After a robust bounce back from the pandemic, the job market has cooled this year as high interest rates weigh on businesses.Forecasters expect this trend to continue as the economy struggles to grow and interest rates remain elevated. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2023.The Canadian Press

Ocean noise strategy delayed, but whale report by military may sound out path forward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

VANCOUVER — Marine scientist Kieran Cox calls it “probably the most pervasive, unregulated pollutant in Canada and globally.” It’s not plastic, petrochemicals or another chemical toxin. It’s underwater noise.“Noise pollution is certainly something that everything from small invertebrates to big cetaceans are interacting with and so that’s why we’re moving forward as a country on this topic,” said Cox, a biological sciences post-doctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University.Cox led a team of researchers who examined a report commissioned by the Defence Department on safeguarding whales from the sound of weapons during training exercises. He said while the report has flaws, it’s a step in the right direction while Canada decides on its national ocean noise strategy that has been delayed after years of development.Noise created in the oceans, through activities like shipping, can interfere with underwater animals’ ability to loca...

‘Angel’ Shane MacGowan remembered by friend Finny McConnell of The Mahones

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

Finny McConnell, frontman for Canadian band The Mahones, remembered many occasions spent drinking into the mornings with his close friend and fellow Irish punk Shane MacGowan as he prepared to pay tribute to the singer-songwriter in London.Speaking from a pub in the Camden Town area around the corner from where he first met MacGowan in the late 1970s, McConnell described him as “a sweetheart, an angel and funny as hell.”McConnell said he was set to perform at a concert Friday in Camden in honour of MacGowan’s legacy and influence in London’s Irish community.MacGowan, the boozy, rabble-rousing singer and chief songwriter of The Pogues, died Thursday, his family said. He was 65.“It’s a sad day for all us Irish punks because he’s the king, he’s the guy who started it all,” said an animated McConnell, who punctuated his anecdotes with profanity and guffaws. “He broke the rules and made it current for all us young punks, he got ...

Ontario real estate law update with open bidding option enters into force

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

TORONTO — New rules for Ontario real estate are coming into force that are meant to provide more clarity and choice for buyers and sellers, though they don’t go as far as some had hoped.The rules, which took effect Friday, include the option for sellers to use an open bidding process, improvements to broker and brokerage disclosures, and ways to avoid conflicts on multiple representation.The open bidding option gives the seller the choice to disclose submitted bid prices to potential buyers, something they were previously banned from doing.Open bidding has been advocated by some, including Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner, as a way to reduce rampant overbidding in real estate and help reduce prices. “A consistently transparent bidding process will help bring down the skyrocketing price of houses,” he said when the Ontario government announced open bidding would be an option for sellers.The federal Liberals also promised in their 2021 election campaign to e...

Stock market today: World shares mixed after Wall St ends its best month of ’23 with big gains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed on Friday after Wall Street closed out its best month of the year with big gains in November. Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% to 16,309.89 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.5% to $7,348.88. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 7,512.94. The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.2% to 16,838.89, hovering around a one-year low, while the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,031.64.A private sector survey released Friday showed Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded in November, marking the fastest growth in three months. That report by Caixin contradicted an official one released the day before that showed weak factory demand. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 17 points lower to 33,431.51 after a similar private-sector survey showed Japan’s manufacturing contracting in November at the fastest pace in nine months. South Korea’...

Live updates | Israel and Hamas trade blame for their cease-fire’s end as combat resumes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:34 GMT

Israel resumed fighting in Gaza minutes after a temporary cease-fire deal ended, and accused Hamas of having violated the truce. Hamas blames Israel, saying it declined offers to free more hostages. Mediator Qatar said Friday that efforts are ongoing to renew an Israel-Hamas cease-fire and expressed “deep regret” over the resumption of Israeli bombardments.Over 100 hostages were freed during the seven-day truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Israel says around 125 men are still held hostage. The 240 Palestinians released under the cease-fire were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. The deal that began Nov. 24 ended after a week and multiple extensions, despite international pressure for the truce to be upheld as long as possible. Weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign have left more than three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis. More t...