Weekly News Recap: May 19, 2023

Weekly News Recap: May 19, 2023

Calgary author Porsche Ray has written five books so far in a series about a child with autism. (Jenny Howe/CBC)

Different. Not less. -- Temple Grandin

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Experience: I helped rescue 100 dogs from a burning building (The Guardian) #GrabATissue "Most of the smaller dogs were scared, so part of the work was comforting them. We would pick them up and give them attention. One of the dogs we rescued had actually made its way up the street and pooped all over itself because it was so scared. I tried to be an affectionate and calming presence, saying, 'It’s gonna be OK.” [...] It seemed much more emotional for the owners. The fire was on the news and on Twitter; people were pulling up and leaving their cars in the middle of the road to hop out and search for their dogs. When they got to our fence and saw them, there were tears. People dropped to their knees with joy, knowing their dog was safe. It hit home for me, too – it could have been my own dog in there."

  • VIDEO: Dramatic video shows good Samaritan stopping runaway stroller from rolling into traffic (YouTube) #Hero "The formerly homeless man had just finished a job interview and was sitting on a nearby bench when he saw a stroller carrying a baby boy quickly rolling toward a busy street."

  • Generation Connie (New York Times) "What gave her some comfort, though, was seeing Ms. Chung on TV. Here was a woman with a face like hers, with great taste in clothes, who wore beautiful makeup and had stylish hair, yet asked aggressive questions of powerful people, most of whom did not seem to treat Ms. Chung any differently because of her appearance."

  • VIDEO: This Nigerian chef cooked for 100 hours in pursuit of Guinness World Record — and more (CBC) #Congrats "A Nigerian chef spent 100 hours preparing meals non-stop, aiming to set a Guinness World Record for the longest ever cooking session by an individual. Hilda Bassey, a chef in the mega city of Lagos, captivated the country with her marathon cooking, which started on Thursday and ended Monday night. President Muhammadu Buhari and several politicians and celebrities congratulated Bassey, while cheering supporters camped outside an events centre to witness the 27-year-old chef preparing a mix of local and foreign dishes, from jollof rice to pasta and akara, which is made from bean flour. The current longest cooking record is held by Indian chef Lata Tondon, who set a time of 87 hours and 45 minutes in 2019."

  • She's 10, has autism, and she's just finished her 5th book (CBC) CALGARY STORY "Aside from having the coolest pen name on the planet, author Porsche Ray has already ticked a lot of boxes. She's just completed her fifth book in a series centred around Melinda, a young girl with autism. Porsche Ray is also a young girl with autism and she's only 10 years old."

  • VIDEO: Trail camera west of Timmins, Ont., spots 'spirit moose' (CBC) TIMMINS STORY "When Mark Clement decided to set up trail cameras west of Timmins near the Foleyet, Ont., area, he knew he had the potential to see a variety of wildlife. Recently, he checked his camera footage to discover he had captured video of a white moose, also known as a 'spirit moose.' 'A white moose is a real treasure to get if you can photograph it,"' he said. Clement said white moose are not albino as they don't have red eyes. They have no brown coat pigment, so turn predominantly white."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment a young moose takes a dip in this backyard pool (CBC) LE GOULET STORY #Playing "Mireille Vienneau looked out her kitchen window, in Le Goulet, N.B., and was surprised to see a young moose taking a bath in her backyard swimming pool. She and her husband were aided by a group of neighbours trying to persuade the moose to leave, but in the end, the animal waddled off on its own."

  • VIDEO: Zelda fans line up for blocks to get hands on new game (CBC) "On Thursday night and into Friday morning, gamers waited in long lines to purchase the new Nintendo Switch game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with some taking days off work in order to experience the long-awaited sequel."

  • Owl be there for you: Grumpy the owl finally fostering an owlet at Kamloops wildlife park (CBC) KAMLOOPS STORY #GreatName "Grumpy, the great horned owl, is finally getting a chance at motherhood. The bird came to B.C. Wildlife Park in Kamloops in 2001 with a wing injury, most likely from being hit by a car. For many years, she was on display with other owls, but when the other two owls in the enclosure paired off, Grumpy became a third wheel. After that, staff decided they wanted to try her as a foster parent for owlets. Until now, there wasn't a good opportunity, but this year, the park took in an owlet whose nest was blown onto the ground in a windstorm. According to B.C. Wildlife Park animal care manager Tracy Reynolds, they were lucky because Grumpy had just laid a clutch of unfertilized eggs when the owlet arrived."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Coyote to receive Yukon University honour (Whitehorse Star) WHITEHORSE STORY Congrats to Coyote and to YukonU. "Yukon University will present Ivan Coyote with its first honourary doctorate degree at the 2023 convocation. Coyote will also deliver the key address to the graduates, their families, faculty, staff and dignitaries attending the June 3 event. The moves are in recognition for their writing, storytelling, performances and presence in schools, the university said today."

  2. 58% of all Edmonton transit tickets in 2020 and 2021 were issued to Indigenous people (CBC) EDMONTON STORY "Indigenous people received 58 per cent of tickets issued on and around Edmonton transit in 2020 and 2021; compared to 27 per cent of tickets given to white people, data released Tuesday shows. Of the 7,471 tickets issued over the two years, 4,307 went to Indigenous people while 1,982 were given to white people. Black people got 335 in the same timeframe and Asian people, 24. Infractions include fare evasion, trespassing, public intoxication, loitering, littering, aggressive panhandling, smoking and urination and defecation."

  3. Ipsos Poll: Twenty Three Percent of Canadians Now Rely on Charities to Meet Essential Needs (Financial Post) CANADIAN STORY "CanadaHelps, the country’s largest platform for donating and fundraising online, has published the findings from a new Ipsos poll that reveals 23% of Canadians are currently accessing charitable services to meet essential needs such as food, clothing, or shelter; this is expected to increase to 26% within six months."

  4. Calgary author Chris Turner wins $25,000 book prize for political writing on climate change (Saltwire) CALGARY STORY Congrats Chris. #WellDeserved "Calgary journalist and author Chris Turner has won this year’s Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book about climate change. The award, presented by the Writer’s Trust of Canada, comes with a $25,000 prize. Turner’s book, How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World was published by Random House Canada. Turner often writes about climate change and global energy transition. His previous books include The Patch: The People Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands, The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in The Sustainable Economy and The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need. He also wrote 2004’s Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation."

  5. Creepy dolls washing ashore in Texas are being used to help birds and sea turtles (CBC) "In an ideal world, the oceans wouldn't be full of human garbage. But as long as that trash keeps washing ashore in Texas, conservationists are going to put it to good use. The Mission-Aransas Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute is taking the best and most interesting finds from its bi-weekly beach surveys and putting them up for auction. Up for grabs are all sorts of buoys, netting and floats you'd expect to find in the ocean. But there are some more peculiar items — including a fibreglass mermaid, and a collection of horrifying, barnacle encrusted, internet-famous dolls."

  6. Flames Foundation announces $400K gift to community (CTV) CALGARY STORY Nice move Flames Foundation. "The Calgary Flames Foundation announced a significant donation [...] as part of a partnership with the Parks Foundation Calgary that will improve five parks in the city. The foundation is donating $400,000, which will be used to support three bicycle pump tracks and a pair of community revitalization projects. All the projects are dedicated to highly-used recreational spaces in Calgary communities, serving residents of every age, and creating safe play spaces for the city. The three pump track projects are South Glenmore Park, Marda Loop and West Confederation Park."

  7. Former NBC exec Linda Yaccarino named new Twitter CEO, Elon Musk confirms (CBC) "Elon Musk has confirmed that the new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it's now called, will be NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry."

  8. Does Canada really need a digital loonie? (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "The Bank of Canada is wading into the fraught and controversial world of digital currencies, launching public consultations this week into how Canadians might use a digital dollar. 'We've been researching a digital dollar for quite a while now,' said Carolyn Rogers, the senior deputy governor of the central bank. 'And we're at a point where we need help from Canadians, we need to understand what Canadians want.'"

  9. For Calgary's sneaker community, their shoes are more than just footwear (CBC) CALGARY STORY I live with a sneaker aficionado. "Adam Keresztes remembers them vividly: A pair of red and white low top Air Jordan 11s sitting on a wall of a sneaker store in Calgary almost 20 years ago. 'That was the pair I wasn't able to get,' said the co-founder of YYC Solediers and the YYC Sneaker Swap. 'But I remember my first pair of basketball shoes.' A couple of decades later, Keresztes is now sitting on more than 100 pairs — almost all of which are Nike and Air Jordan. Like so many others, he got into the culture through his love of basketball. Stepping on the court in a pair of AND 1s in middle school, he says, amplified his love of the sport and sneakers."

  10. Yukonomist: Navigating the labour shortage (Yukon News) WHITEHORSE STORY "I once heard an economist frame this in an interesting way. He asked why Norwegians and Floridians — who both live in rich, advanced economies — wash their cars in such different ways. Norwegians almost always use an automated drive-thru car wash. In Florida, many go to small businesses where a team of a half-dozen humans gives your car a rapid Formula-One pitstop style manual wash. It’s because labour is scarce and expensive in Norway, but not in Florida. The Yukon is now moving in the Norwegian direction. We will have to change our assumptions about how the market delivers the goods and services we need. Any managers with a foot in the Florida model will face the harshest impacts from the labour shortage."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The Clarity of the Perfect Pie (Julie Benezet) Five great rules for achieving clarity; #2 is the best.

  2. Tactics To Create Impressive PowerPoint Decks In Hours, Not Days (Better Humans) I regularly draw a storyboard before I make a PowerPoint. It really helps.

  3. 7 Copywriting Tips If You Just Started Learning Copywriting (Benjamin Watkins) Some really great tips here.

  4. Managing Work-Life Balance in the Digital Age (Akash Srivastava) First and foremost, give yourself some grace.

  5. The ’70s Are Back, Baby (Hyperallergic) Amazing!

  6. 5 Books That Will Improve Your Mental Health (Elle) We can all use some help. And these are a great start.

  7. Network effects: How to rebuild social capital and improve corporate performance (McKinsey & Company) So important.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. RVH EXPANSION PLANS GET BOOST FROM $1M DONATION (Barrie 360) BARRIE STORY "[The] Carpenters’ Regional Council and its Local Unions, Local 27 and Local 675, made an extraordinary $1-million gift to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) Foundation’s Keep Life Wild campaign. The gift will generously contribute to the health centre’s expansion plans, including the construction of a new healthcare facility in Innisfil."

  2. Ferrari makes €1 million donation to the flood-ravaged Emilia-Romagna region (SBNation) "In the wake of Formula 1’s decision to cancel the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to flooding that has ravaged the region, Ferrari announced [...] that they were making a donation of €1 million to the Emilia-Romagna Region’s Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection."

  3. Ballmer Group awards $42.5M to help 110 Black-led groups grow (Seattle Times) "A new grantmaking effort funded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie’s philanthropic arm will provide $42.5 million over the next five years to support more than 100 Black-led nonprofits focused on improving economic mobility."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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