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Daughter unravels decades-old mystery of disabled mom’s rape

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

Magdalena Cruz grew up knowing she owed her very life to a horrid crime.She was born in 1986 to a mom who couldn’t care for her, or for herself. For a decade, Cruz’s mother had been a resident of a state facility for severely disabled people in Rochester, New York. She was nonverbal. She was 30 but had the mental acuity of a 2-year-old, wore diapers and needed constant care. She couldn’t consent to sex, so when she was discovered to be pregnant, it was obvious she must have been raped.Facility administrators told the woman’s family another resident was likely responsible and said they would file a police report and undertake an internal investigation.Nearly four decades later, Cruz says she has solved the mystery of her father’s identity herself, partly by using a mail-order DNA test and a popular genealogy database.He was an employee of the facility, not a resident, according to a lawsuit she filed this week.Moreover, Cruz also learned through her own sleuthing that no ...

On tap: Booze still allowed on Amtrak in New Hampshire

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Riders on an Amtrak train that runs from Maine to Boston can continue to buy alcoholic beverages during the 35-mile stretch of the trip that goes through New Hampshire as officials work out a “creative solution” to avoid violating a state liquor law, officials said.The Amtrak Downeaster takes passengers 145 miles from Brunswick, Maine, to Boston. The train includes a cafe car that serves alcohol.The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, a quasi-government agency that has a service agreement with Amtrak, said it was told by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission that the train can’t serve alcohol during the New Hampshire portion of the journey. There’s a law that forbids serving alcohol that hasn’t been purchased in the state. The liquor commission didn’t immediately comment Wednesday. It said in a statement Tuesday that the Massachusetts-based company that provides the train’s food and beverage service “inadvertently acknowledged th...

What to know about prescription drugs promising weight loss

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

WeightWatchers, the 60-year-old diet firm, announced this week it would acquire a telehealth company whose providers prescribe anti-obesity drugs for growing numbers of eager online subscribers.The $132 million deal with Sequence is the just the latest commercial push into the red-hot market for prescription drugs that promise significant weight loss. For months, the diabetes drug Ozempic has been touted on social media by celebrities even though it’s not approved for weight loss. The demand for it sparked shortages.WeightWatchers will be introducing its roughly 3.5 million subscribers to a new generation of medications that go beyond behavioral changes like gym workouts and diet tracking. Obesity experts say the drugs may revolutionize treatment of the disease that affects 42% of American adults.Here’s a look at the promise of these new medications and cautions about their use. WHAT ARE THESE NEW DIET DRUGS?The drugs that have generated most buzz are from a class of medications cal...

Is International Women’s Day a catalyst for change or just a symbolic gesture?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Queen’s University, Ontario Listen to this articleInternational Women’s Day occurs yearly on March 8. The United Nations argues that international days are powerful tools for advocacy, awareness and action. On women’s rights and equality issues, action and awareness are badly needed, at home in Canada and around the world.But does International Women’s Day actually accomplish anything? Are these types of public recognition events helpful? What can governments do better on this front?One danger of international observances is they can become window dressing where the symbolic action of one single day covers for unsubstantive efforts on the other 364 days of the year.This year’s celebrations may seem exaggerated, or even performative, when juxtaposed against governments’ political records on gender issues. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court removed constitutional guarantees of reproductive freedom with the repeal of Roe v. Wade.In Canada, rates of domestic...

Analysis: Canada’s decision to ban TikTok from government devices is bad news for the NDP’s election strategy

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

By: Aidan Moir, University of Toronto Listen to this articleNew Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, the most prolific Canadian politician on TikTok with almost 900,000 followers, has deactivated his profile in a move that will undermine his party’s attempts to engage with young voters through social media.On Feb. 27, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced TikTok would be banned on all federal-issued government devices due to security concerns over the Chinese-owned platform.Trudeau’s decision follows similar bans in the United States by governments at the federal and state level, and numerous universities last December.Singh has characterized his deactivation as “taking a pause” from the app, leaving open the possibility of reactivating his TikTok account in the future once the security concerns are addressed.But in the meantime, a government ban on TikTok poses significant challenges for politicians and political parties, like Singh and the NDP, that use the platform for digita...

Students push Ontario pension giant to ditch dirty investments

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

By: Isaac Nay, Local Journalism Initiative ReporterWhen Aishwarya Puttur was a Grade 10 student in Oakville, Ont., she was shocked to learn her teachers’ pension fund had invested in the greenhouse gas emissions of air travel.“Teachers are teaching us for a better future and because they want us to be successful,” Puttur said. “But how can we be successful and how can we continue to live on a dying planet when their own pension plan is investing in something that will be affecting us on a global scale?”Puttur joined a number of other Ontario classmates to protest the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s (OTPP) ownership in the Bristol Airport in North Somerset — a region in England about a two-and-a-half-hour drive west of London.OTPP, the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada, is a majority shareholder in the airport. For more than four years, the airport has tried to build a larger terminal. Local authorities, environmental groups and Ontario high school students have oppos...

Compensation available for affected CarOne customers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

CarOne customers who have been impacted by the recent closure of the business’ two locations may be entitled to financial compensation. The company abruptly declared bankruptcy in late January closing its Belleville and Kingston stores, and now the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) says customers could be entitled to up to $45,000 for losses.The money comes from the Motor Vehicle Dealer’s Compensation Fund (MVDCF), a pool of a collection of one time $300 fees paid by dealers when they register with OMVIC. Maureen Harquail, CEO and Registrar with OMVIC, says that fortunately the fund is in a healthy state right now. She says the fund is available to protect consumers in the wake of a very significant purchase.“For most consumers buying a vehicle is either their first or their second largest purchase that they’ll make,” Harquail said.“It’s a big deal.”In order to be eligible to access the fund customers need to have suffered ...

Opinion: Companies oversell the self-driving capabilities of their cars, with horrific outcomes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

By: Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor In mid-February, Tesla announced the recall of over 350,000 vehicles — more than 20,000 in Canada — due to a problem with its “Full Self-Driving Capability” system. This self-driving feature was found to possibly cause vehicles to misbehave when entering intersections or exceed the speed limits, posing a risk for safety.This is just another instance of vehicles equipped with automated driving technology falling short of their safety expectations. In September 2022, a driver on the Queen Elizabeth Way near St. Catharines, Ont., was caught asleep at the wheel of a Tesla. The vehicle appeared to be operated by a semi-automated system with no monitoring from the driver, which is in direct violation of the requirements for these systems. https://www.youtube.com/embed/WRmGa6A25Lg?wmode=transparent&start=0 Inside Edition reports on two recent deadly crashes involving Teslas.Numerous incidents involving Teslas have been reported recently. Thes...

President of the European Commission to visit Kingston next week

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

The President of the European Commission has announced a transatlantic trip to Canada and the US next week where she will be making several stops to discuss transatlantic relations, trade, strategic sectoral partnerships and cooperation in support of Ukraine. Just two of these stops will be in Canada, with one taking place in Kingston and the other taking place in Ottawa, Ontario. The upcoming visit was discussed in detail in an itinerary posted on the Prime Ministers Official website on Thursday. During the visit, Prime Minister Trudeau and President von der Leyen will build on “close, enduring transatlantic relations between Canada and the European Union (EU)” and will drive progress on shared priorities, including continuing to work together on advancing clean energy and clean technologies, creating good middle-class jobs, and driving economic growth, most notably through the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Canada-EU Strategic Partn...

Kingston Transit will begin offering it’s reduced rate Affordable Bus Pass in April

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:58:57 GMT

The City of Kingston has announced that beginning in April, community members who are supported by the City of Kingston’s Municipal Fee Assistance Program (MFAP), will pay 50 per cent less when purchasing their Kingston Transit Affordable monthly transit passes. “High inflation and the rising cost of living have made it harder for households to make ends meet,” says Mayor Bryan Paterson. “Reducing the cost of public transit is one way the City is directly supporting those who need help the most.”  The April 2023 monthly passes will see adults pay $20 per month and youth/seniors will pay $14.88 per month. The 50 per cent reduction to the affordable transit pass program will also apply to registered clients of Kingston Access Bus (KAB). The announcement comes following a Kingston City Council decision to reduce fees for the program by as low as 50%. While there were options presented to council to lower the regular bus fare, city staff determined that this would co...