Weekly News Recap: July 25, 2025

Weekly News Recap: July 25, 2025

Paddlers Anna Gleig and Ava Haddad helped a foal reunite with its mother after being stuck in the Kananaskis River on July 12. (Submitted by Ava Haddad)

Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most. -- Ozzy Osbourne

SOME GOOD NEWS

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. More Canadians may be thinking of a staycation this summer. But has domestic travel become unaffordable? (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Demand drives up cost. "Whether you're camping under the stars, jumping off the dock at a lakeside cottage, strolling the coast or exploring a new city, there's arguably nothing better than a summer vacation in Canada. Assuming, of course, you can afford it."

  2. Big names are skipping Vancouver on concert tours. Why? (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY "Oliver Quezada attends upwards of 20 concerts a year. 'I absolutely love listening to music live,' he said. 'Going to these concerts is just such a crazy experience because you grow with an album, you grow with an artist. And seeing it live is like, wow.' But he's noticed a shift in the types of shows coming to B.C. Bigger artists, people who would play bigger arena shows, are skipping Vancouver. Lorde, Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX, Lady Gaga, Burna Boy — the list goes on — have all overlooked Vancouver on their most recent tours."

  3. VIDEO: AIFF 2025 Winners Announced (Runway) These are amazing! "Welcome to Runway’s third annual AI Film Festival. Established in 2022, AIFF is a celebration of the art and artists embracing new and emerging AI tools for filmmaking. Works showcased offer a glimpse at a new creative era. One made possible when today’s brightest creative minds are empowered with the tools of tomorrow."

  4. Why Japan Counts 72 Microseasons (New York Times) My personal favourite is: 'bush warblers start singing in the mountains.' Periods including 'fish emerge from the ice' in mid-February and 'rainbows hide' in late November offer a framework for eating, gathering and celebrating."

  5. For these dolphins, using sponges to dig up fish is a family tradition (CBC) Animals are incredible -- we know so little. "In a marine-protected area off the coast of Australia, there are bottleneck dolphins swimming around with sponges on their noses. But unlike orcas wearing salmon on their heads or chimps putting grass in their ears and anuses, 'sponging' isn't a fashion statement or a cultural trend. Rather, it's a sophisticated foraging technique passed down through generations to drudge up tasty snacks from the seafloor."

  6. I got my first tattoo at 67. Here's what I learned as a geriatric tattoo virgin (CBC) GREATER MADAWASKA STORY I am also toying with getting a tattoo (and varicose veins are also a problem for me). "When I look at my embellished leg, I see proof that growing old isn’t a predictable paint-by-numbers template."

  7. VIDEO: Trek to Uranium City finds abandoned buildings and diehard residents (CBC) SASKATCHEWAN STORY And...why? "Uranium City sits north of Lake Athabasca, about 50 kilometres south of Saskatchewan's border with the Northwest Territories. It's a remote place that doesn't have an all-season road connecting it to other parts of the province."

  8. VIDEO: Ozzy Osbourne, godfather of heavy metal who later found fame on reality TV, dead at 76 (CBC) RIP Metal star, we will not see you like again. "Ozzy Osbourne, the iconic frontman of the 1970s heavy metal band Black Sabbath, earned his infamy biting the head off a bat on stage and pursuing a drug-fuelled lifestyle before reinventing himself as a lovable if often foul-mouthed reality TV star. Osbourne, known to fans as the 'Prince of Darkness' and the godfather of heavy metal, died [...] morning at the age of 76, according to a family statement."

  9. Legal battle over $21 million donation to Holy Cross comes to a close; money for art center (Telegram & Gazette) "A 2023 lawsuit filed against College of the Holy Cross in which the namesake of its Performing Arts Center demanded the return of $21 million in donations has been dismissed. The suit, filed by Cornelius Prior Jr., the namesake of the $110 million multi-theater arts hub that opened in 2022, was dismissed jointly [...] court records show."

  10. VIDEO: Total Pixel Space (YouTube) This is a longest video but the concept is pretty mindblowing -- almost makes you feel like we are living in a simulation. "Total Pixel Space contains every possible digital image, including films of your entire life, every life you never lived, and the lives of every creature or object that ever and never existed on or off the earth, from every possible angle."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The Beginner’s Guide to Making Sausage at Home (Outside Online) Mmm...sausage.

  2. 30 Ways to Use AI to Make Life Better and Easier (Art of Manliness) Yes, I know there a ton of these posts but...these one seemed fresh to me.

  3. What 10 Minutes of Treading Water Does for Your Body (Inside Hook) I once had to do this for 30 minutes in the Pacific Ocean with my hands and feet tied (training exercise) -- I will never forget it.

  4. Most common use of time throughout the day, by age and sex (Flowing Data) This is a very cool site. You can move the sliders. Pro move: Change the genders and see where men and women differ in how they use their days.

  5. Use This Genius Hack To Bug-Proof Your Campsite With An Ingredient You Already Own (Explore) And...it will keep vampires away.

  6. A Naturalist’s Guide to the World’s Most Lethal Plants (Moss & Fog) Creepy and helpful.

  7. 13 Morning Stretches You Can Start Doing in Bed (GQ) I know, I seem to go back and forth on whether stretching is good or not. This week = good.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. VIDEO: $65 million donation to UPMC hospital project in Pittsburgh (YouTube) "UPMC Presbyterian Tower is the largest healthcare construction project in Pennsylvania. Local philanthropists Daniel and Carole Kamin are donating $65 million to support the project."

  2. Weill family commits $100 million for West Coast cancer hub (Philanthropy News Digest) " The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford Medicine have announced a $100 million matching grant from the Weill Family Foundation to bring together two leading cancer centers to launch the Weill Cancer Hub West."

  3. Disadvantaged children STEM boost from £6.5m donation (BBC) "An anonymous donation of £6.5m has been made to to help socio-economically disadvantaged children's education. The money will be used to expand Oxford University's outreach work with students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, the institution said. The donor has also made a gift to the University of Cambridge, to support projects aimed at increasing participation and attainment in STEM subjects."

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.

Vincent DuckworthComment