Weekly News Recap: June 25, 2021

Weekly News Recap: June 25, 2021

Lund was joined at the protest ride and concert by about 30 landowners. The event was intended to draw attention to some of the land that would be affected by the Alberta government's plans to allow open-pit coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rockies and its impact on concerned multi-generational ranch families. (Leah Hennel/CBC)

Whenever you are offended, understand that you are complicit in taking offense. -- Epictetus

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Saskatoon beaver takes down Canadian flag, makes off with flagpole (CBC) SASKATOON STORY #MeanwhileInCanada "A Saskatoon photographer captured his own heritage minute after he witnessed a beaver standing on guard for thee, right under a Canadian flag. Or so he thought. Using two branches, Mike Digout placed a Canadian flag over a popular beaver passage in the heart of Saskatoon on the Meewasin Trail. A family of beavers are known to frequent the area so Digout thought it'd be 'really cool to get a picture of a beaver with a Canadian flag.' But Canada's national animal had other plans."

  • Sask. 12-year-old who ran farm, cared for siblings after father's heart attack earns citizen award (CBC) MELFORT STORY I love this girl. "Soon after Ashya's parents left, farm duties started piling up. 'The horses needed hay right after mom left,' Ashya said. 'The cows needed new grain feed regularly.' She also had to deal with water pipes freezing and do some of the cooking for her two younger sisters. When she didn't know what to do, she leaned on nearby family and community members to help out. 'We're really grateful for the community we live in, for the people that have helped us.'"

  • This cat is no couch potato: Sask. outdoorsman takes feline friend on adventures in the great outdoors (CBC) REGINA STORY Well, my cats would definitely not be up for this but..."Regina cat owner Shawn Crassweller has ridden his longboard into the cat adventure movement. Many owners have been inspired to train their cats to go on adventures, including hiking and canoeing. The fearless felines are braving mountains and defying the stereotype of the scaredy-cat."

  • Rhode Island Makes Financial Literacy A Required Class For All High School Students (The Morning News) #Brilliant #MorePlease "One Rhode Island school is leading the way to a better future. Personal finance classes at Tolman High School are preparing students to be financially responsible adults as they make their way in the world."

  • These Brisbane sisters can sing all 195 of the world's national anthems (ABC) #CrazyCool "The pair, who speak the Indian language Malayalam as well as English, are able to seamlessly break into an a cappella rendition of any country's national song in the native language."

  • Grade 5 student inspires Okotoks school community to fundraise for inclusive playground (CTV) OKOTOKS STORY "At the start of the next school year in September, children who use a wheelchair at an Okotoks elementary school should be able to enjoy the playground with their friends. Grade 5 student Ella Cutting first brought the idea of an inclusive playground to her principal at Dr. Morris Gibson School. Her classmate Cooper Oakes would be out during recess but wasn’t on the playground."

  • ‘I want the hate to stop’: Mom buys more pride flags after originals stolen (CBC) EDMONTON STORY "When someone stole and burned the pride flags Joni Johnson put out on her front porch/steps/yard, she went and bought more. And then bought more again. 'I have all of these flags. There's still a lot of days left in a month. I'm just going to put a new flag out every day.'"

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Calgary council approves $154M in spending on new recreation facilities (CBC) CALGARY STORY "Most of the money for the new facilities will come from developer levies and city reserve funds. City administration says the two regional fieldhouses will be able to accommodate a variety of recreational activities, as well as cultural activities, festivals and events. [...] Most of the new facilities are on the outer edges of the city, where population growth continues to drive demand, according to the city."

  2. Edmonton school to be named after legendary locker room attendant Joey Moss (CBC) EDMONTON STORY What a fitting tribute to an amazing man. Well done Edmonton. "A school in Edmonton that will open next year has been named after Joey Moss, a legendary locker-room attendant for the city's national hockey and football teams. Moss, who was born with Down syndrome, became the Edmonton Oilers' locker-room attendant in 1984, when superstar Wayne Gretzky was dating his older sister."

  3. Alberta to provide $8M for research into unmarked burial sites, deaths at residential schools (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Good. "Alberta will provide $8 million to support Indigenous-led research into undocumented deaths and burials at residential schools, Premier Jason Kenney announced Wednesday. The funding announcement follows the discovery last month of a burial site adjacent to the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C.'s southern Interior."

  4. Warren Buffett resigns from Gates Foundation (CBC) "Buffet gave no reason for stepping down, but questions have been raised about the structure of its leadership after reports of Bill Gates' behaviour in the workplace."

  5. The Inequality of the GoFundMe Economy (New York Times) Thanks to Ron Bailey for sharing this story. "Turning to the internet for financial help didn’t work very well in a pandemic. That was among the discouraging conclusions of a new academic research paper that examined efforts on the fund-raising website GoFundMe to collect money for health care bills, groceries, funeral costs and other needs that resulted from the coronavirus crisis."

  6. Norwegian Redirects $2 Million Donation To Juneau Community Foundation (Cruise Industry News) A follow-up to our story from last week's recap. "Norwegian Cruise Line will reportedly be redirecting its $2 million donation to the Juneau Community Foundation after the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly turned it down in fear of 'losing public trust.'"

  7. Singer-songwriter Corb Lund and 30 Alberta landowners hold coal mining protest concert (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Congrats to all who stood and stand against mining this beautiful part of Alberta. A day after this story, the Government of Alberta announced that they would not be pursuing this project. "Many rural landowners in southwestern Alberta aren't budging from their opposition to the provincial government's plan to allow open-pit coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, with 30 landowners and country music star Corb Lund gathering [...] for a protest concert. The landowners, all wearing cowboy hats and boots, rode on horseback onto the Rocking P ranch in the Livingstone River Valley near Cabin Ridge, the site of a proposed coal mine north of Coleman, for what was billed as a 'Tribute to the Mountains Concert.'"

  8. Biden makes Juneteenth a U.S. federal holiday, commemorating end of slavery (CBC) Finally! Well done America. "Black Americans rejoiced Thursday after U.S. President Joe Biden made Juneteenth, June 19, a federal holiday, but some said that, while they appreciated the recognition at a time of racial reckoning in the country, more is needed to change policies that disadvantage too many of their brethren."

  9. Glenbow looks to private sector, public to raise additional $40 million for redesign, renovations (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY #CantWait "After securing $94 million in funding from three levels of government, the team behind the Glenbow Reimagined campaign is appealing to the public and private sectors for an additional $40 million to complete its ambitious redesign and renovation of the 46-year-old downtown museum and gallery space."

  10. Calgary Stampede announces scaled-down, virtual parade and names Katari Right Hand as marshall (CBC) CALGARY STORY "There will be a parade to launch the upcoming Calgary Stampede, but it won't include hundreds of thousands of fans lining the city's downtown streets. Stampede officials announced [...] that the parade, set for July 9, will still include floats, marching bands and riders travelling through the Stampede grounds to kick off of the 10-day world-renowned rodeo and fair. However, spectators will have to tune in virtually. The parade will be broadcast on Global television."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. Drinking straw device is instant cure for hiccups, say scientists (Guardian) Brilliant. Just last night, Christine was telling me that drinking water through a straw gets rid of hiccups. Turns out, she was right. (She is usually right).

  2. 100 Very Short Rules for a Better Life (Forge) This is a list worth reading regularly. #10 and #17 jumped out at me and #60 has been my bane all of my life.

  3. 3 Techniques I Follow to Maintain Inbox Zero (With Examples) (Start It Up) I am pretty good at BLUF but I love If-Then. A quick but important read.

  4. The Management Mistake That Causes Daily Worry, Stress, and Anxiety in Employees (Inc.) I think that all of us struggle with this. I know I do.

  5. To Become Highly Productive, Be More Like A Monk (Better Advice) So true. So hard.

  6. This Is the Journaling Template for People Who Don’t Have Time to Journal (Forge) Sometimes you just need a template. I am going to try this one out for a month.

  7. 4 Simple Emails You Should Send Every Week (Curious) I do some of this but I want to do more. Especially the bonus suggestion of the email you should send every day.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. (WATCH) Amazing donation: Sympathy card inspires woman’s $1.2 million estate donation to UMMC (Livingston County News) A little authentic kindness goes a long way. "When Marian Ransom received a sympathy card from United Memorial Medical Center after the death of her brother, she decided present a gesture of her gratitude. And it was generous, to put it mildly. Ransom, who lived in Le Roy and died last year, donated her entire estate valued at more than $1.2 million. It’s the biggest donation in the UMMC’s history, which stretches back more than 100 years."

  2. National Bank donates $2 million to help scale Quebec’s innovative startups supported by Concordia and partners (Concordia) QUEBEC STORY Nice move National Bank! "Quebec tech startups advanced by Concordia University and its partners are getting a major boost from National Bank. The financial institution is supporting innovative startups through a $2 million donation to the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen. Now to bolster the MentorConnect program."

  3. Maine Medical Center receives largest donation in hospital history: $25 million from John and Leslie Malone (News Center Maine) " Maine Medical Center announced Tuesday that it received its largest donation ever as part of a fundraising campaign to grow the hospital's facilities, workforce, and innovation in health care. The $25 million donation comes from John and Leslie Malone and brings the total of 'The NEXT 150' campaign to $135 million as the campaign enters the public phase of fundraising."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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