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WestJet ramping up after reaching deal with pilots, but not before cancelling flights

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

CALGARY — The WestJet Group averted a strike after reaching a last-minute deal with the airline’s pilots early Friday, but not before cancelling more than a hundred flights and upending the long weekend plans of thousands of passengers. Travellers stuck at airports expressed frustration with cancellations and delays, while others took to social media with stories of ruined vacations. WestJet said Friday it’s ramping up operations as quickly as possible, but warned that the full resumption of operations will take time. The airline encouraged travellers to continue to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association announced a tentative agreement to avoid the job action early Friday morning after eight months of negotiations, but not before the airline grounded the bulk of its fleet Thursday, including for its Swoop subsidiary, ahead of the strike deadline.The shutdown affected dozens of routes within Canada and to...

Statistics Canada reports retail sales down 1.4% in March, but core sales up 0.3%

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says retail sales fell 1.4 per cent to $65.3 billion in March.However, the agency says core retail sales — which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers — rose 0.3 per cent in the month.Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers dropped 4.4 per cent in March, their first decline in eight months as sales at new car dealers fell 4.8 per cent. Sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors were down 3.9 per cent.Meanwhile, sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers rose 1.6 per cent and sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers gained 1.6 per cent.In volume terms, Statistics Canada says retail sales fell 1.0 per cent in March.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

Authorities say 11 people killed in border road accident, highlighting China-Vietnam human smuggling

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities say 11 people were killed in a road accident Friday along the China-Vietnam border, including nine Vietnamese citizens. The incident highlights the persistence of human trafficking in the mountainous border region, where there has long been a trade in agricultural goods and workers coming from Vietnam to the relatively poor Chinese province of Guangxi. One of the other victims was Chinese and the nationality of the other has yet to be determined, according to the social media account of the local Jingxi county government. They were among 14 people aboard an off-road vehicle that overturned and fell into a gully, the government said. It said the incident was related to human smuggling. The survivors included the Chinese driver, a Chinese assistant and two Vietnamese citizens, all of whom are being questioned, the government said.Limited job opportunities in parts of Vietnam have prompted some of its citizens to seek their fortunes in countries where...

Philanthropy helps boost manufacturing in areas with high job vacancies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Mary Lamar had been searching for a job that was a good fit. She worked for a time as a nursing assistant but found it boring. A stint as a shipyard welder ended because she could no longer bear the winter cold. Then Lamar had what she described as a “rift” in her life. That rift led her to plead guilty to robbery in 2019 and to serve time in prison.Now Lamar, who lives in Cleveland, operates a stamping press, churning out thousands of specialty metal washers each day at Talan Products, a local manufacturer.“I’ve always been mechanically inclined,” she said. “My mom told me I should have been an engineer.’’Lamar got her job through a program developed by business and community leaders — with help from philanthropy — to match people of color, women, and formerly incarcerated people with manufacturing jobs.Manufacturers in Cleveland and other cities, including Buffalo, Chicago, and Milwaukee, are dealing with a retiring workforce that’s left thousands of jobs unfilled...

Dr. Seuss plaque missing on Mulberry Street

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A plaque memorializing the home where Springfield, Massachusetts, native Dr. Seuss authored his first book has disappeared. 4 Falcon chicks nesting at Monarch Place in Springfield The office of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said officials were contacted about the missing plaque, which was reported stolen to Springfield police after it was determined that it had not been removed to be cleaned or restored.The plaque was attached to a rock on Mulberry Street that read:“This was the site of one of Mulberry Street’s oldest houses, circa 1830. Mulberry Street was memorialized in “AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET,” the first book authored by Springfield native Theodore (sic) Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss.”Springfield police confirmed that the plaque has not been accounted for for several months, but it is unknown exactly how long it has been missing.Mayor Sarno is hoping to find those responsible for the theft and have the plaque returned. In a st...

Did you know there are scorpions in this river gorge?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Hikers brave enough to trek the Columbia River Gorge at night or during the early morning hours have a chance of seeing some of the canyon’s rarely seen residents: scorpions.Community members in the private Facebook group “Oregon Hikers And Climbers” recently shared their scorpion sightings in the gorge, which are said to have occurred as close to Portland as Angel’s Rest in recent weeks. Oregon Zoo curator Travis Koons told Nexstar's KOIN that the western forest scorpion can be found in the western and central half of the Columbia River Gorge and on the south side of Mt. St. Helens.“These are nocturnal animals, and sightings are likely quite rare in the grand scheme of things,” Koons said. “I would not recommend flipping rocks or disturbing rotten stumps unless you are prepared to encounter this or other slightly venomous invertebrates.” Here come the spiders: What to know about Oregon’s emerging creepy-crawlies The western scorpion can also be found on th...

Pflugerville ISD offering free meals through summer break

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) -- The Pflugerville Independent School District will be offering meals to children throughout the summer break. PfISD announced this week that it will offer open community lunch to children this summer through the USDA summer meals program. Many children receive free and reduced-price meals at school, which can mean they go hungry in the summer, PfISD said. The meals will be provided at the following locations on the dates and times listed below: TIMMERMAN ELEMENTARY5/30/23- 8/11/23 (7/4/23 Closed for Holiday)8:30AM-9AM- Breakfast; 11AM-11:30AM LunchRIVER OAKS ELEMENTARY6/5/23-6/29/23 (M-F 6/5-6/16) & (M-Th 6/19-6/29)8AM-8:30AM- Breakfast; 12:30PM-1PM LunchRUTH BARRON ELEMENTARY6/5/23-6/29/23 (M-F 6/5-6/16) & (M-Th 6/19-6/29)8AM-8:30AM- Breakfast; 12:30PM-1PM LunchRIVER OAKS ELEMENTARY7/18/23- 7/28/238:45AM-9:15AM- Breakfast OnlyPFLUGERVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL6/5/23 – 6/29/23 (M-Th)8:30A- 9AM- Breakfast; 11:30AM-12PM LunchPFLUGERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL6/5/23 ...

Target recalls nearly 5 million Threshold candles after severe burns, lacerations reported

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Target is recalling almost 5 million candles over laceration and burn hazards, according to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.The recall impacts some 4.9 million Threshold-branded glass jar candles sold in multiple sizes and various scents — including water mint and eucalyptus, apple blossom and breeze and warm cider and cinnamon, among others.According to the CPSC notice, Target received 137 reports of the Threshold candles’ jars breaking or cracking during use. Six injuries — which included lacerations and severe burns — were reported.Consumers with the recalled Threshold products should “should immediately stop using” them, Thursday’s notice said. The candles can be returned to any Target store or by mail for a full refund.Details on the size, scent and item numbers of the candles are listed on the CPSC website and Target’s recall page.The recalled Threshold products were sold exclusively in Target stores and on...

Results for St. Louis County residents fearful of water shut off

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

BEL-RIDGE, Mo. - The water was working at Tiffany Shaw’s Bel-Ridge home when FOX 2 visited Thursday morning. After receiving a notice of non-payment warning from Missouri American Water, she’s not sure how much longer that’ll be the case.“The water company comes yesterday and told us that our water is due to get disconnected because there’s a past due bill," Shaw said. "There’s no account at this address.”She and her neighbor, Ivie, said they’ve repeatedly reached out to the property management company, Purpose Residential.“They keep forwarding our calls. They won’t answer our calls. They won’t return any calls," Shaw said.They said Purpose Residential began managing the property after it was sold earlier this year. Under the previous owners, they said they didn’t pay the water bill, and if that’s changed under the new owner, they haven’t been told. Whitestone and Co., a real estate investment firm, now owns the duplex. Road rage fight sends 73-year-old man to hospital with life-t...

Videos show gunman saying ‘kill me’ to onrushing officers in New Mexico rampage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

By MORGAN LEE, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and ANITA SNOW (Associated Press)SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Videos released Thursday of this week’s deadly rampage in northwest New Mexico recorded a voice said to be the shooter urging police to “kill me” and officers rushing toward the 18-year-old gunman before fatally shooting him outside a church. “He is yelling on the Ring footage, ‘Come kill me,’” Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said of Beau Wilson, the high school senior who authorities say killed three older women during the attack.“He’s making a stand, he has opportunities to run off, he does not use those opportunities,” Hebbe said. “So yes it’s my belief that ultimately in his head, he has made the decision that he is going to stand and fight it out until he is killed.”Three older woman were killed Monday by the shooter, including a mother and daughter who happened to be driving through the neighborhood. T...