Weekly News Recap: April 22, 2022

Weekly News Recap: April 22, 2022

The donation will fund the construction of a new wing and laboratories for the Courtois Institute, located in the MIL campus science complex. PHOTO BY PIERRE OBENDRAUF /Montreal Gazette files

Time spent among trees is never time wasted. -- Anonymous

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • ‘We’re All In This Together’: Retired Denver Cop Helping Feed Ukraine Refugees (CBS) Heroes exist everywhere. "'It’s been very eye-opening, it’s been very humbling,' she said, after finishing another 11-hour day making meals for refugees from Ukraine who have crossed the border into Poland. 'What I’m doing is representing Denver, Colorado and I’m here for all of Denver to say we are fighting this.' White, who retired from DPD in 2018 after serving for 28 years, said she had been looking for ways to help Ukrainians when she read a blog by a volunteer for World Central Kitchen, a frontline aid organization that has served millions of meals to those displaced by the Russian invasion."

  • Woman accidentally wins $10 million on lottery scratcher after stranger bumps into her (NBC) #LightningStrikes "A California woman's encounter with a rude customer while buying her lottery ticket ended with her winning $10 million. The California Lottery said Wednesday that LaQuedra Edwards won the top prize from a $30 200x scratcher she bought in November, 2021. Edwards explained to lottery officials 'some rude person' bumped into her while she was depositing about $40 into the machine at a Vons supermarket in Tarzana, just north of Los Angeles. The bump caused her to accidentally hit the button for a $30 scratcher instead of her usual lower-cost tickets."

  • Calgary Zoo gorilla 'Dossi' gives birth to first baby (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY How wonderful. "The 21-year-old western lowland gorilla Dossi is doing well and is being closely monitored by the zoo’s care team after giving birth. The baby is fathered by Jasiri, the zoo’s 23-year-old silverback male. The sex of the baby gorilla has not yet been determined."

  • South Carolina couple marries at Gander airport after falling in love with Come From Away (CBC) This story just keeps getting better. #Love "A South Carolina couple left the warm weather of home to elope in Gander, the place they fell in love with after watching a performance of Come From Away. In 2019, Bronwyn Frank and Jason Harrell went on their first formal date to see the musical in Greenville, S.C. Bronwyn, who has worked in theatre since high school, has seen her fair share of musicals, but this was Jason's first time going to a live theatre production. The couple from Greer, S.C., say they immediately fell in love with the people and places portrayed in the musical — which depicts what happened in Gander, where dozens of flights were grounded in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 — making the town the ideal place to tie the knot."

  • UPEI students developing accessible gaming controller for people with disabilities (CBC) PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND STORY #LoveThis "A group of UPEI students is working to make the world of gaming more accessible by creating a more inclusive controller for people with disabilities. The group is made up of four engineering students: fifth year's Graham Ching and Muhanad Hilaneh and fourth year's Ryan Unuigboje and Denaj Miller. Hilaneh said they've created what they call a 'No Pull No Lift' controller for the North American charity AbleGamers — a non-profit aiming to make gaming more accessible for people with disabilities."

  • Ukraine has received nearly $900 million in donations as the Ukraine-Russia war rages on (Fortune) "Ukraine has received nearly $900 million in donations since Putin invaded the country in late February. The country has received more than than 600 grants totaling $886,052,533 since Feb. 28 —four days after the Russia-Ukraine war began—and April 14, according to Candid, an information services company that specializes in nonprofits."

  • This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one. (National Geographic) CANADIAN STORY I heart this so much. Thanks to Michèle Stanners for sharing this story. "With its thunderous rapids carving through a wild boreal forest in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region, the Magpie River is well known to white water rafters from around the globe. What these travelers may not know is that the Magpie recently became the first river in Canada to be granted legal personhood. The 120-mile-long waterway is sacred to the Innu First Nation, who call it Mutuhekau Shipu. They’ve depended on it as a major highway, food source, and natural pharmacy for centuries. But in recent years, the river has been threatened by hydroelectric dam development, the negative environmental and social effects of which often outweigh any renewable energy benefits. To protect the natural landmark, the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality declared the Mutuhekau Shipu a legal person in 2021. Now the river has nine rights, among them the right to flow, maintain biodiversity, be free from pollution, and to sue."

  • The Kids in the Hall are making a comeback (CBC) #TheseAreTheDavesIKnow #MyPen #CantWait CANADIAN STORY "Canadian sketch-comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall is making a return to our screens after a long hiatus. Twenty-seven years after the original series wrapped up on CBC, they're headed to Amazon Prime, with a new season debuting May 13. Produced by Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video and Canadian production company, Project 10, the revival will see original members Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson reunite for eight episodes."

  • ‘Schindler’s List’ Actress Who Played Film’s “Little Girl In The Red Coat” Is Now 32 And Helping Ukrainian Refugees Enter Poland (Deadline) "Oliwia Dabrowska was about 3 years old when she became an indelible part of cinema history in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning classic Schindler’s List. As the little girl in the red coat walking through the Krakow Ghetto untouched as its residents are being 'liquidated' by German troops, she was not only the only color in the otherwise black-and-white film, she also symbolized much of the film’s complicated dance between hope and hopelessness, violence and compassion, guilt and innocence."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Philanthropy? What About Tesla and Space X, Says Elon Musk (Daily Beast) Interesting perspective. What do you think about Elon's assertion? "The world’s richest man apparently believes he is also the world’s biggest philanthropist—because his companies do such good work. Philanthropy is usually taken to mean using your wealth for good causes, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he thinks making sleek electric cars for rich people, sending rockets into space, and digging tunnels under Las Vegas should also count. Asked about billionaire philanthropy at a TED conference in an interview published on Monday, Musk—who is estimated to have a fortune of about $250 billion—said he cared about the 'reality of goodness' rather than the perception. 'SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company are philanthropy. If you say philanthropy is love of humanity, they are philanthropy,' he said."

  2. Charitable Gifts Of NFTs: Can I Get A Charitable Deduction For My NFT Donation? (Forbes) I mean, this had to happen. Right? "Just like with gifts of art, the IRS may decide to treat different people who make gifts of NFTs differently. Creators and dealers may be in a different category from collectors and personal users when it comes to valuation and deductions."

  3. Royal Tyrrell Museum says summer camp gender quotas ensure girls are included (CTV) DRUMHELLER STORY Impact begins with intention. Nice work RTM! "A world-renowned paleontology museum in Drumheller, Alta. says the withholding of dinosaur summer camp spots based on gender is designed to encourage girls to participate. Each week of the Royal Tyrrell Museum's junior (ages nine through 12) and senior (ages 13 through 17) summer science camps are limited to a maximum of 36 participants, with 12 of the spots reserved for girls."

  4. Canada's inflation rate jumps to new 31-year high of 6.7% (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Man, we are feeling it. "Canada's inflation rate rose to 6.7 per cent in March, far more than economists were expecting and a full percentage point higher than February's already 30-year high. Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that all eight categories of the economy that the data agency tracks rose, from food and energy to shelter costs and transportation. 'The spike in prices over the month of March is the largest monthly increase since January 1991, when the goods and services tax was introduced,' economist Royce Mendes of Desjardins Group noted."

  5. Red Deer Polytechnic Board of Governors introduces new President (Red Deer Polytechnic) RED DEER STORY Congrats to all. "Red Deer Polytechnic’s Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Mr. Stuart Cullum has been appointed as the institution’s 12th President. Stuart Cullum will begin his role starting on August 2, 2022. With a proven record as a collaborative and innovative post-secondary leader, Cullum was selected by the Board to guide Red Deer Polytechnic on its path forward as a polytechnic institution, serving learners, industry and communities with a growing breadth of credentials and programs that meet central Alberta’s needs."

  6. 'Athletes have had enough': Money, medals putting pressure on Canadian high-performance sport culture (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This has been a smouldering issue for years. "Hundreds of Canadian athletes, active and retired, are cataloguing the ways in which the national high-performance system has failed them. Athletes overseen by Gymnastics Canada, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, Rugby Canada, Rowing Canada and Artistic Swimming Canada have called in recent months for changes ranging from the ouster of leaders and coaches to the handling of bullying and harassment complaints to the opaque decisions made around athlete selection for teams. A recent acceleration of athlete unrest prompted Canadian Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge to call an emergency roundtable and the announcement of $16 million in the federal budget in safe-sport money."

  7. Pope Francis to make 3 Canadian stops in July to meet residential school survivors, sources say (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Welcome to Canada! "Pope Francis is expected to visit at least three cities during a late July trip to Canada, CBC News has learned. Sources involved in the planning of the trip say the Pope will likely make stops in Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit during what is scheduled to be about a four-day trip to the country. CBC News is not identifying the confidential sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly."

  8. Elon Musk launches hostile bid for Twitter claiming free-speech concerns (CBC) #OhElon "The on-again, off-again relationship between Elon Musk and Twitter took a new twist on Thursday as the world's richest person made a hostile bid to buy up the whole company for more than $43 billion US. In a regulatory filing, Twitter revealed that Musk has offered to buy up all outstanding shares in the company for $54.20 US a share. With 800 million shares available, that values the company at just over $43 billion US."

  9. CANADAHELPS LAUNCHES A NEW CAUSE-BASED DONATION PROGRAM CALLED UNITE FOR CHANGE (Charity Village) CANADIAN STORY #HappyEarthDay Give early. Give often. "Unite for Change, a new platform for cause-based donating, provides Canadians with an innovative way to make meaningful change on Earth Day and beyond. Designed to spotlight the most pressing issues of our day, raise funds, and provide highly educational content about a wide range of causes, Unite for Change is a new online destination powered by CanadaHelps. On Unite for Change, Canadians can give to one of more than 35 currently available Cause Funds, with donations automatically divided among a group of registered charities that are all working towards the same cause. With three environment-related funds to choose from, it has never been easier for Canadians to donate on Earth Day to help make a lasting impact."

  10. The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women is derailing decades of progress on gender equality (The Conversation) The pandemic has set women's progress back years. "During the global COVID-19 pandemic, women have carried much of the unpaid emotional and domestic burden of caring for their families and communities, often simultaneously holding down paid jobs, many on reduced hours or salaries."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. Meeting Recovery Syndrome is Real (The Startup) "Meetings may be the Energy Vampires of our work life." I completely agree. #DownWithMeetings

  2. Why Now Is the Best Time To Look at Twitter for Your Branding (Better Marketing) Twitter has traditionally not been our go-to for serious marketing. Perhaps that is changing.

  3. 5 Elements Of Mind Mapping Everyone Should Know: (The Startup) I am a huge fan of the mind mapping process. I have used it for every important planning exercise for the last 20 years.

  4. 50 Apps to Learn Something New in 2022 (Mindful Entrepreneurship) We all need to keep learning. Some really good sites here. And some really great ones as well.

  5. The “No 7s” Rule Has Been A Life Saver For My Decision Making (Illumination) This is such a simple but powerful mind shift. I won't give it away but once you read it, you will likely be using it often.

  6. The Donate Button: Best Practices and Tips to Stay Ahead in the Fundraising Game (Ascend Fundraising Solutions) You have heard of location, location, location. As my friend and colleague, Kelly Morris, might rephrase it, in the digital world, it is landing page, landing page, landing page.

  7. My productive morning routine. (The Mbbs Boy) Something to aspire to.

TOP THREE (ACTUALLY FOUR THIS WEEK) GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. A year in the making: Inside Lindsay and Paula Fox’s $100 million NGV gift (The Age) #Wow #DoubleWow "National Gallery of Victoria director Tony Ellwood spent a year wooing one of the country’s wealthiest families with the offer of naming rights for a new home of contemporary arts in return for a donation of $100 million."

  2. U de M to fund materials research with $159-million donation (Montreal Gazette) MONTREAL STORY What an amazing and important gift. Congrats to all involved. "The Courtois Foundation is giving $159 million to Université de Montréal to accelerate the discovery of new materials, including those that would encourage a green transition."

  3. Air Canada Facilitates Flights for Ukrainians to Travel to Canada with Aeroplan Donation Français (Newswire) CANADIAN STORY There is a matching program. Donate today. Well done Air Canada. "Air Canada [...] said it is donating 100 million Aeroplan points to support the Canadian government's initiative to bring Ukrainians to Canada. The points will contribute towards facilitating transportation and can be used on flights operated by Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners including Lufthansa, LOT Polish Airlines, SWISS, United Airlines and other carriers. The Shapiro Foundation is also contributing to this effort and Miles4Migrants, a non-profit charity will manage and facilitate the flight bookings."

  4. Oilers foundation donates $2M to KidSport (CTV News) EDMONTON STORY #Boom That is where your 50-50 is going and what a great cause. "The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation announced on Tuesday a $2-million donation to KidSport. KidSport subsidizes hockey registration fees for children from low-income families. The non-profit's Hockey Assist Program will receive the $2 million, which will be used to cover registration fees and give access to no-cost equipment for eligible children."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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