Weekly News Recap: August 15, 2025

Weekly News Recap: August 15, 2025

Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones pose with local officials and members of the Fancsy family during a news conference to announce the donation to the new hospital. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)

The public wouldn't like the perfect umpire in every game. It would kill off baseball's greatest alibi - 'We was robbed.' -- Billy Evans

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: Dog Heroically Leads Stranger to 2 Unconscious People in Need of Help: ‘He Definitely Saved Some Lives’ (People) #Hero " 'He led me to a tent encampment with two [people],' Thynes told WTAE. 'At first, I saw just one gentleman. I tried to get his attention to wake him up, but he wouldn't. He was completely unresponsive. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing or not.' He continued, 'And then I turned around and noticed a pair of legs sticking out of a tent, and I tried to shake them, and it was a woman who would not respond to me either.' "

  • MLB's first female umpire to debut. Here's other women who broke officiating barriers (NPR) #LoveThis #Finally "Jen Pawol [made] history by becoming the first woman to umpire a Major League Baseball game. She's [is] work[ing] the series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves. The 48-year-old from New Jersey has worked spring training games over the last two years and in the minors since 2016."

  • At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery (Quanta) #SmartCookie "After finding the homeschooling life confining, the teen petitioned her way into a graduate class at Berkeley, where she ended up disproving a 40-year-old conjecture."

  • VIDEO: Congo’s Teens Brave Bombs, Rebels and Abduction to Play Hoops (New York Times) #Resilience "A basketball academy that offers young people a lifeline and a chance to dream is hanging on in the Congolese city of Goma, despite years of war and the chaos and violence that have followed a rebel takeover."

  • VIDEO: This cancer survivor celebrated her birthday by paying strangers' hospital parking fees (CBC) LONDON STORY What a brilliant idea. Parking costs are CRAZY at hospitals. "Krystyna Locke decided to celebrate her 63rd birthday in a very familiar place — the cancer clinic at her local hospital. The London, Ont., lymphoma survivor spent the last year fundraising to cover cancer patients' parking fees, one of the many out-of-pocket costs related to health care that can add up over time and become a burden. On Tuesday, she set up near an entrance at the London Health Sciences Centre with a stack of parking vouchers and a banner that reads: 'Happy birthday to me. Your parking is free.' "

  • The world's oldest chicken keeps surviving everything life throws at her (CBC) #ToughOldBird "Life has not always been easy for Pearl, the world's oldest living chicken. She once broke her leg fleeing a raccoon attack. Her fellow hens have tried to kill her. She suffered bouts of chicken pox and pneumonia. And these days, her arthritis tilts her body to one side, and her best friend is a mop. 'She's been through a lot,' [said] Pearl's owner, Sonya Hull of Little Elm, [Texas.]"

  • Moose cools off with a swim alongside people in Osoyoos Lake (Castanet) OSOYOOS STORY What a wonderful thing to have happen. "During a hot Monday, a woman spotted a special creature enjoying a swim in the warm Osoyoos Lake. 'I was just sitting here enjoying my day off from work and lo and behold this moose swam right in front of me,' Maria Hunter said. Hunter said she saw the animal on the south side of swiws Park, also known as Haynes Point. In photos captured by Hunter, swimmers can be seen enjoying the water near the moose who appears to be undisturbed by their presence."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment a giant Pacific octopus grabbed a camera and took a selfie (CBC) VANCOUVER ISLAND STORY These creatures are #SuperSmart "Underwater videographers John Roney and Chris Mullen tell The National about the moment they had their camera hijacked by a curious giant Pacific octopus off the coast of Vancouver Island."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. VIDEO: Chatbots learned to write from us. Can AI now change the way we think? (CBC) I am worried as well -- selfishly, about my writing. "As AI saturates the internet, researchers say it's changing the way we write — and, potentially, the way we think. A recent report from online security platform Imperva found automated traffic surpassed human-generated activity online for the first time in 2024. While experts told CBC News it's impossible to say definitively whether that's accurate, they do note there's more AI online than ever before. And as people increasingly turn to AI-powered chatbots in their everyday lives, experts suggest they're mimicking the language chatbots tend to use. Some worry this is creating a feedback loop that could shrink human creativity and potentially alter our thought processes."

  2. Canada in 'facility crisis' as aging public pools face wave of major repairs or closures (CBC) CANADIAN STORY #Eeek "Finding the next Summer McIntosh and keeping Canadians safe in the water is getting harder as pool closures spread across the country. Municipalities and universities strapped for cash, and neglecting upkeep on aging pools, now face hefty renovation or rebuild costs — or closure. More than half of Canada's publicly-owned indoor pools are at least 25 years old, and less than half of the country's 25-metre pools are rated in good physical condition, according to a Swimming Canada report released this year."

  3. VIDEO: This documentary celebrates the powwow as a place of joy and resistance (CBC) CANADIAN STORY A lovely and important insight into an important Indigenous and Canadian tradition. "Before she was a filmmaker, Hayley Morin was a child sitting beside her elders, listening to the drums. The powwow became her first muse — a space where memory, culture and community pulsed in every beat. Her documentary Under the Arbor transforms that personal relationship into a vibrant visual story, tracing the beauty and resilience of the powwow across generations."

  4. Parker: Two Calgary leaders create aspiHer, a club to empower women in business (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY I love this. "Two of Calgary’s most energetic business and community leaders, Milena Radakovic and Desiree Bombenon — both recognized as WXN’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women — have joined forces to create aspiHer Women’s Business Club [...]Bombenon and Radakovic wanted to bring [women] together in a club that would serve as more than a network, but a movement dedicated to empowering women through education, opportunity and unwavering support in their aspirations for success."

  5. Remembering Oscar: NMC to celebrate 100th anniversary of Oscar Peterson's birth with exhibit, concerts (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY What a great exhibition. Can't wait to see it. "When Andy Milne was a student studying jazz at York University, one of his teachers offered some seemingly obvious advice: 'Learn the song.' It was in the mid-1980s, and Milne, who would go on to be a versatile and Juno-winning composer and jazz pianist, at first thought this guidance was a little flippant. But it was coming from the great Oscar Peterson, who would routinely toss out these sorts of pearls and spark some deep thinking in Milne about what he meant. Eventually, he realized Peterson was not being flippant or obvious."

  6. VIDEO: From Concrete Fortress to Cultural Living Room: Calgary's Glenbow Museum's Bold Reinvention (City News) CALGARY STORY #Stunning "The Glenbow Museum is opening its walls to light and the public with a new glass facade, skylight, and open interior design. CityNews’ Hajar Al Khouzaii shows you how the transformation is going."

  7. Giving Pledge billionaires ‘impoverish public life’ and leave philanthropy promise ‘unfulfilled’, study reveals (Alliance Magazine) "Fifteen years ago, Bill and Melinda French Gates, alongside fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, launched the Giving Pledge – a voluntary promise by the world’s wealthiest to give up their fortunes through philanthropic and charitable giving. A new study released by the Institute for Policy Studies has concluded that their aims have largely gone ‘unfulfilled’, with a vast majority of signatories richer now compared to when they first joined."

  8. Fossils are scientific evidence, and shouldn’t be auctioned for millions to private buyers (The Conversation) "A Stegosaurus nicknamed 'Apex' sold at auction for US$40.5 million. A juvenile Ceratosaurus fetched US$30.5 million. Supporters of these sales argue that they’re harmless, or even good for science. Others compare fossils to art objects, praising their beauty or historical charm. As paleontologists, we say plainly: these views could not be more misguided."

  9. Canada faces mega earthquake, Yukon fault sleeping for 12,000 years could trigger one of the most destructive tremblors in country’s history (The Economic Times) CANADIAN STORY "A shocking new discovery beneath Canada’s remote northern frontier may have just revealed one of the nation’s most powerful and underestimated natural threats. Scientists from the University of Victoria, working in partnership with the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Alberta, have confirmed that a massive fault line running across the Yukon is still very much active, and dangerously overdue for a major earthquake."

  10. VIDEO: Sour news for pickle lovers: Bick's pickles no longer stocked at some Canadian retailers (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This story is worth reading if only for the appalling (and amazing) puns. "It's kind of a big dill. Popular pickle brand Bick's, which is made only for the Canadian market, is no longer on the shelves of some Canadian retailers — a consequence of the ongoing trade war between Canada and the United States. While it's a jarring change for many shoppers, it may push consumers to buy more homegrown options and there could be other ripple effects that affect Canadian jobs and businesses."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The Trick To Keeping Your BBQ Chicken Juicy On The Grill (The Takeout) Good advice (and juicy).

  2. Why good houseguests don't actually 'make themselves at home' (NPR) I think I will share with with all of my houseguests in advance. Just kidding, our house is too small for guests but I do think this is a really smart guide.

  3. What Happens to Your Brain When You Listen to Binaural Beats (verywell mind) I find them soothing.

  4. Dicing an Onion the Mathematically Optimal Way (Pudding) Ha, this does take some of the organic mystique out of the process but it is nerdy cooking so I could not resist.

  5. The real reason why you should always pet your dog before leaving the house (Upworthy) Pet your dog.

  6. VIDEO: Martial Arts Expert Shares Easy and Clever De-Escalation Tactics To Prevent Fights (My Modern Met) Great tips!

  7. The Last Planet Parade of 2025 Is Coming. Here’s How to See It. (Vice) I love looking into the sky. #AweInspiring

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. New Windsor hospital site to be named Fancsy Family Hospital after $40M gift (CBC) WINDSOR STORY #Woot! Thanks to ViTreo's Head of Research, Ken Kempcke, for sharing this story. "The new Windsor acute care hospital will be named the Fancsy Family Hospital after the estate of the late John Fancsy donated approximately $40 million dollars to the project — the largest single gift ever received by the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation."

  2. Slaight Foundation commits $9.4 million to Canadian aid groups (Philanthropy News Digest) TORONTO STORY "The Slaight Family Foundation in Toronto has announced a commitment of C$13 million ($9.4 million) in support of humanitarian organizations working to fill gaps in global aid caused by the shuttering of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."

  3. Huntsville Hospital Foundation receives “largest non-estate donation” in its history (My Muskoka Now) HUNTSVILLE STORY Wow! More thinking like this please. "Linda McBurney and Rosemary Bolitho have donated $1.66 million to the Huntsville Hospital Foundation. The life-long friends recently sold their Lake of Bays cottage, allowing them to make the donation. 'It is important to us that the funds from the sale of the cottage remain in the community,' says Bolitho."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo President & CEO Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by ViTreo Group Inc. of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. ViTreo Group does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ViTreo Group Inc. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate.

Vincent DuckworthComment