Florida House OKs budget that punishes mask mandate schools
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — School districts that ignored Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates will face a $200 million penalty under a budget bill passed Wednesday by the Florida House. The funding stripped from those districts would...
Premier visits Manitoba First Nation after three children die in fatal fire
CROSS LAKE, Minn. — Manitoba’s premier says a house fire that killed three children from a northern First Nation should never have happened. Heather Stefanson visited the Pimicikamak Cree Nation Wednesday to share her condolences and support the grievi...
No vaccine passport means B.C. school events capped at 50% for spectators: minister
VICTORIA — British Columbia's education minister says capacity at school-based events will be capped at 50 per cent for spectators to provide some physical distancing because proof of vaccination will not be required. Jennifer Whiteside says the measur...
Loan relief granted to students misled by for-profit DeVry
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it will cancel more than $70 million in student debt for borrowers who say they were defrauded by the for-profit DeVry University — the first time the Education Department has approved such claims for
Opposition from GOP senator threatens Biden judicial pick
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s opposition to one of President Joe Biden’s nominees surprised Democrats on Wednesday and presented a fresh test to a tradition that over the years has allowed individual senators to block the confirmation...
Heritage minister says Netflix, Disney should contribute more to Canadian culture
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime are "the new big players" and should contribute more to Canadian culture. In a debate Wednesday in the House of Commons about a bill to
Quebec City mayor adds new rules as protest against COVID orders expected on weekend
Quebec City is giving more powers to its police force to control traffic and prohibit the consumption of alcohol outdoors ahead of a protest planned for this weekend against COVID-19 public health orders. Mayor Bruno Marchand said Wednesday that two ne...
Former fugitive pleads guilty in 2009 parental kidnapping
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A former Vermont woman who fled the United States with her daughter in 2009 and lived as a fugitive in Nicaragua to avoid sharing custody with her former same-sex partner pleaded guilty Wednesday to parental kidnapping.
New leaked data shows most donors to ‘Adopt-a-Trucker’ GiveSendGo page were Canadian
OTTAWA — A new data leak shows that about 60 per cent of donors to an "Adopt-a-Trucker" page on the online fundraising platform GiveSendGo were Canadian and 37 per cent were American. About US$540,000 was raised on the page to support
Lawyer says he didn’t advise B.C. Speaker on clerk’s retirement benefit
VANCOUVER — A lawyer says he never specifically advised a former Speaker of British Columbia's legislature about the eligibility of then-clerk Craig James for a retirement allowance that is the subject of a criminal charge. Donald Farquhar told a B.C....
