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Toronto’s massive 55-foot tall Christmas tree arrives at Nathan Phillips Square

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

The area around Toronto City Hall is starting to look a little more festive with the city’s traditional giant Christmas tree arriving in Nathan Phillips Square. The 55-foot tree officially arrived around 7:30 a.m. Monday on the back of a flatbed truck — it now towers over the entrance to City Hall. The city says the complete installation of the massive tree will take around eight hours.The city will let the tree settle in for three days and then crews are expected to begin decorating it over the next couple of weeks.“There will be 500 decorations put on it, as well as 20,000 energy efficient lights,” says Kerri MacDonald with city’s Programming and Special Events. “It’s going to be quite spectacular.”The 57th annual Cavalcade of Lights kicks off on Nov. 25 and includes the official tree lighting ceremony.“Inspired by Christmas, winter solstice, lantern and light festivals from around the world, Cavalcade of Lights is a free event...

Hyundai joins Honda and Toyota in raising wages after auto union wins gains in deals with Detroit 3

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

South Korean automaker Hyundai has joined Honda and Toyota in raising factory worker wages after the United Auto Workers union reached new contract agreements with Detroit automakers.Hyundai said Monday it will raise factory worker pay 25% by 2028, matching the general wage increase won by the UAW during that period. Toyota raised factory pay 9% to 10% starting in January, while Honda said it will increase wages 11% during the same period.Experts say the increases at least in part are aimed at thwarting UAW President Shawn Fain’s strategy of trying to organize U.S. auto plants run by foreign automakers and Tesla in order to increase the union’s bargaining power. Fain said terrified auto executives at nonunion plants are raising wages, and he called Toyota’s pay increase the UAW bump.“UAW, that stands for ‘You Are Welcome,’” he said.About 146,000 UAW members are voting on new contracts with General Motors, Ford and Jeep maker Stellantis that give them 25% general wa...

High-ranking Mormon leader M. Russell Ballard dies at age 95. He was second-in-line to lead faith

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of the highest ranking leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, M. Russell Ballard, has died. He was 95.He died Sunday surrounded by family at his home, according to a church statement Monday morning. Ballard was second-in-line to become church president based on being the second-longest tenured member of a top governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which he said he was called to join in 1985. The leadership body sits below the first presidency, and helps set church policy and oversees the faith’s business interests. The longest-tenured member of the Quorum becomes the new president in a church tradition established in 1889 to prevent lobbying and ensure a smooth transition in the faith known widely as the Mormon church. Ballard was a great-great grandson of church co-founder Hyrum Smith. Beginning as a young missionary in England, he rose through church leadership ranks, becoming a bishop, president of the Toronto missi...

Liberal MPs among Canadians in D.C. Tuesday to battle rising antisemitism

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

WASHINGTON — Two Liberal MPs are part of a Canadian delegation in the U.S. capital today to join a multilateral effort to combat the rise in antisemitism. Mental Health Minister Ya’ara Saks and Montreal MP Anthony Housefather are taking part in two days of meetings as part of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians. Housefather says this is the council’s first in-person meeting in eight years and comes during what he describes as the worst worldwide upsurge in antisemitism since the 1930s.He says recent incidents in Montreal — including attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and a protest at Concordia University last week that turned violent — have been his most emotional time as an elected official. The Canadian delegation will also take part in what police expect will be a large pro-Israel rally scheduled to take place Tuesday in the shadow of Capitol Hill. Housefather says a number of Canadian protesters will also be in D.C. for the rally, part of an in...

Math teacher who became powerful Haitian gang leader has been killed, former mayor says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A powerful and feared gang leader in Haiti who was once a math and physics teacher was killed in a neighborhood within a sprawling seaside slum that he controlled for years, local media reported on Monday.The death of Iskar Andrice, who also has been identified as Iscar Andris, raised concerns that already rampant gang violence could spike further in the vacuum his death created.Andrice ruled the Belekou community within the Cite Soleil slum where he died, former mayor Esaïe Beauchard told Radio Galaxie FM.“It’s regrettable that this guy had to be involved in gang activity, because he’s a very intelligent man,” Beauchard said.It wasn’t immediately clear what day Andrice died.Jean-Frédérique Islain, the current mayor of Cite Soleil, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.The gang that Andrice led was involved in murder, robbery, extortion, rape and the hijacking of goods and trucks, according to a recent U.N. report. He later joined fo...

Book Review: Rock ‘n’ roller and Rush pioneer Geddy Lee goes deep in his memoir, ‘My Effin’ Life’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

Geddy Lee is a rock star, that’s undeniable. But he’s also a polite Canadian to the core. So it’s fitting that the Rush icon picked a not-too-bawdy title for his memoir.“My Effin’ Life” is an engrossing tale of a “classic underachiever” who became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vocalist, bassist, and keyboard player. It’s a great read for anyone interested in the brilliant prog-rock trio or the music scene from the 1970s onward. Lee’s writing is a lot like his band’s songs — deep, gloriously nerdy, sometimes wandering and wonderfully thoughtful. It’s a 400-page narrative from a perfectionist who calls himself “Mr. Bossypants.”“It’s a compulsion to exhaust every possibility to make the perfect record,” he writes. “I don’t want to have to live with errors. Impossible, I know, but what’s the effin’ point of not shooting for the moon?”The book is enlivened by photos of scrawled lyric sheets, studio doodles and private emails as Lee t...

Chicago firefighter dies after falling through light shaft while battling blaze

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago firefighter died Monday from injuries he suffered when he fell through a light shaft at a burning building, officials said.Andrew “Drew” Price, 39, was helping battle a fire at a four-story building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood that began about 6 a.m., Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said.Price was on the roof opening up holes for ventilation when he fell through a light shaft while putting out hot spots, Nance-Holt said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.She said a “mayday” was called and Price was located right away, but fellow firefighters needed to breach a wall to reach him. He was taken to the Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, the commissioner said.Price had been a Chicago firefighter since 2009, Nance-Holt said. “We all knew Drew,” she said. “Drew worked out. He was a health nut. Loved by so many and will be missed by all.”Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said it was too early to know what started the bl...

Sustainable funds see net outflows in Q3 for first time since 2020: Morningstar

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

TORONTO — Morningstar Inc. says sustainable investment funds saw $22.4 million in net outflows last quarter for the first dip in the segment since the second quarter of 2020. The market research firm says the outflows weren’t limited to sustainable funds as Canadian long-term funds also lost nearly $4.1 billion, for a 0.2 per cent contraction compared with 0.1 per cent for sustainable funds.  The outflow in sustainable funds though was a notable shift from recent years that saw investors pump significant money into them, including more than $6 billion in net inflows in the first quarter of 2021 alone.It was only as interest rates started to climb in 2022 that flows began to drop, though sustainable funds still saw expansion of 3.2 per cent in the first quarter and 0.5 per cent in the second quarter.Passive funds were the source of the outflows, losing $208 million, while actively-managed funds saw inflows of more than $185.7 million. Active funds were also the only source of n...

New CDPH commissioner appointed by Mayor Johnson

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday the appointment of Dr. Olusimbo "Simbo" Ige to serve as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.Dr. Ige is currently the Managing Director of Programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene."Dr. Ige is a tremendous addition to not just our administration, but to the City of Chicago,” said Mayor Johnson. “Dr. Ige is someone who understands the balance between hard data and community interaction when assessing public health problems and solutions, and with decades of experience in public health, she brings a clear-eyed understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities that CDPH and our city face, and how we will collectively overcome them."She has been in public health for nearly two decades.As the Managing Director of Programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dr. Ige oversaw partnerships w...

Jewish groups protest at Ogilvie near Israeli Consulate calling for ceasefire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Protestors gathered Monday inside Ogilvie train station near the Israeli Consulate to rally for a ceasefire in Gaza as the Palestinian death toll surpasses 11,000.Jewish allies and supporters of the Palestinian cause gathered outside the Israeli Consulate, that sits in the same building as Ogilvie Transportation Center.Three Jewish organizations, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now and Never Again, organized the demonstration, hoping to bring light to Jews standing in solidarity with Palestinians.The groups call for an end to the deadly attacks in Gaza that has claimed over 11,000 lives, mainly women and children. They also want water, food and electricity returned to Gaza to prevent further deaths. Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in Downtown Chicago while pro-Israel protestors rally in Northbrook "It's a fool's errand to think that defending oneself is going to come through bombing, mass killings and exile, displacement, ethnic cleansing genocide -- there's no military...