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Remembering SARSfest, the concert that revived Toronto, 20 years later

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Twenty years ago, Toronto was reeling from the deadly SARS epidemic that severely impacted the local economy. As the World Health Organization declared the global outbreak contained and travel advisories for Canada’s largest city were lifted, efforts immediately began to bring people back to Toronto — and one of the country’s biggest music events was born. On July 30, 2003, an estimated 450,000 to 500,000 people descended on Downsview Park for what was officially called the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert, but more commonly known as SARSstock or SARSfest.With that attendance, it was the largest concert in Canadian history. The concert was a fundraiser for health-care and hospitality workers and featured an all-star lineup with The Rolling Stones as the headline act along with AC/DC, Justin Timberlake and Canadian acts such as Rush, The Guess Who, Kathleen Edwards and Blue Rodeo. The tickets were sold for as little as $21.50.With the gates opening at 8 a.m...

‘Letters of heaven’: Kyiv coffee shop manager proud to be called up to fight Russia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Anton says he has always been willing to pick up arms and fight for Ukraine.He recently got his wish, receiving a letter calling him into military service in his country’s battle with Russia.“I am going to the army,” the 29-year-old coffee shop manager from Kyiv told The Canadian Press in a phone interview.“I wasn’t surprised really. Now is the time that mostly all men receive these letters of heaven, as we call them.”Anton worked last month as an interpreter for The Canadian Press. Members of the Ukrainian military are discouraged from revealing their last names for the safety of their family members in the country.Men ages 18 to 60 were banned from leaving Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in February 2022. The Ukrainian government is not forcing men to fight, but they must register and remain in the country. There is a chance of enforced conscription if the violence continues. “It’s just my duty. It’s a matter of honour...

Flying taxis are coming — eventually, to an exclusive few

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

MONTREAL — From his suite on the 23rd floor of the Fairmont Dubai, Fethi Chebil surveys the luxury cars and driverless metro line unfurling to the horizon.“I can see the future,” says the Quebec-based CEO and founder of VPorts, which designs terminals for flying taxis.Chebil is referring with a wink to Dubai’s Museum of the Future, but he might just as well be describing the mode of transport he envisions high above the roads and rails of the desert city and beyond: flying cars.Air taxis, long hyped as the next giant leap in short-haul passenger transport, are coming closer to a vertiport near you — even as skepticism deepens over their ability to change commuter behaviour and emissions output, and overcome questions of safety, both real and perceived.Electric air taxis can start plying the skies by 2028, according to a regulatory timeline laid out by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration this month. Some manufacturers have 2025 as their target, such as Silicon Valley’s Arc...

4 killed in 2 separate aircraft crashes near Wisconsin air show

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) - Four people are dead and two are hospitalized after two separate crashes on Saturday. Both incidents are connected to an annual air show in Wisconsin, according to officials.The first crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. A T-6 Texan aircraft crashed into Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh, where the Experimental Aircraft Association is holding its annual fly-in convention, EAA AirVenture.Both people aboard the aircraft died, according to EAA officials. A few hours later, a Rotorway 162F helicopter and ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter collided in mid-air at the south end of the EAA AirVenture flight line at Wittman Regional Airport, killing two and injuring two others. Both of the injured are in stable condition, according to EAA. Time running out to file for $725M Facebook settlement: How to claim your payment The Oshkosh Fire Department said one of the aircraft landed on top of a parked plane, but did not clarify which. The National Transportation Safety Board is investig...

18-year-old man found dead after going missing in Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

GARY, Ind. — An 18-year-old man is dead after he went missing Saturday near Miller Beach in Gary, according to Indiana Conservation Officers.Just before 3 p.m., emergency personnel were called to Miller Beach to look for a missing man in Lake Michigan. 18-year-old pedestrian dead after Grayslake crash Around 6 p.m., someone on the beach noticed the man and crews recovered his body.His identity hasn't been released.Search efforts were hampered due to winds and up to six-foot waves that created rip currents, conservation officers said.An investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

Founder of '1 Jar Foundation' inspired back to school drive after losing son to gun violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Jalisa Ford, founder and executive director of "1 Jar Foundation" joins WGN Weekend Morning News to share more on how losing her son to gun violence influenced her work with helping kids going back to school.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

In search of the wonderfully weird giants lurking in Earth’s rivers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

(The Conversation) - Rivers have been the lifeblood of human civilization throughout history, and yet we know surprisingly little about what lives in many of them – including the giant creatures that prowl their depths.While we know the biggest animal in the ocean is the blue whale and the largest marine fish is the whale shark, the identity of the world’s largest freshwater fish species long remained a mystery.Until 2022, that is, when fishers in Cambodia caught a giant freshwater stingray in the remote reaches of the Mekong River.Weighing an astounding 661 pounds, the stingray surpassed by 15 pounds a giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005 that had previously been considered the unofficial record holder.The discovery marked a milestone in fish biologist Zeb Hogan’s more than two-decade quest to study and protect giant freshwater fish. As a group, these megafish are among the most endangered animals on the planet.The world’s largest freshwater fish confirmed s...

Real World Economics: Military readiness comes with a price

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Edward LottermanEconomics studies how a society can allocate scarce resources to meet its needs, and there is no knottier challenge than finding people to fight wars.That is a hot topic right now as all NATO countries reassess their militaries in the face of a Russia willing to slug it out in a large, traditional land war. At the same time, there is increasing asperity between China on one hand and virtually all of its neighbors, the United States, Australia and New Zealand on the other.Yet all U.S. armed forces in all their components, active, reserve and National Guard, are struggling to find enough people willing and able to serve. This is a big deal within the Department of Defense and outside it. Two recent publications by the non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations explore the issues, which are well summarized in a July 26 Washington Post editorial, “Army recruiting shortages will force big changes at the Pentagon.”Irony abounds in that 2023 is the 50th anniversary of an all...

Dolly Parton rocks cover of 'We Are The Champions' for the 2024 Olympics

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — With her album "Rockstar" set to release later this year, Dolly Parton is helping promote the upcoming Summer Olympics by covering two iconic rock anthems. NBCUniversal, the U.S. broadcaster for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, teamed up with Parton to create a unique cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You" to promote their coverage of the games in Paris. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The official music video combining the two anthems was released Wednesday, exactly one year before the start of the games, with Parton in front of the Eiffel Tour along with dramatic images of such famed U.S. Olympians as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and the U.S. basketball teams. The tracks mark her latest foray into the rock world following her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year. Her new album "Rockstar" is set to release on Nov. 17 with collaborations with icons including ...

More than 5,000 without power, storm damage across the St. Louis area

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Winds peaked at nearly 80 miles per hour at the St. Louis Lambert Regional Airport during an intense afternoon storm system Saturday afternoon, one that caused some scattered damage around St. Charles County. FOX 2's extreme weather specialist Chris Higgins describes the winds as some of the worst he has ever seen from a non-tornado or non-hurricane warned storm. He witnessed strong winds and heavy rainfall around 3:30 p.m. near Highway K in St. Charles County. Community officials are currently surveying damages. FOX 2 has learned of more than 100,000 power outages in the St. Louis metro and tens of thousands in St. Charles County. Right now, more than 5,000 people there are waking up without power.Residents are reporting downed power lines and trees. Two viewers from St. Charles County sent the following photos of damages. Viewer-submitted photos of storm damage in St. Charles County on July 29, 2023. Viewer-submitted photos of storm damage in St. Charles County on July...