Weekly News Recap: March 13, 2026

Weekly News Recap: March 13, 2026

For Calgary charities that do a lot of driving, high gas prices are affecting their bottom lines and volunteer programs. (Axel Tardieu/CBC/Radio-Canada)

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment a Canadian Paralympian made an epic curling shot (CBC) CANADIAN STORY #BrilliantShot "Canadian wheelchair curler Jon Thurston tells The National about the moment he made an epic double rock takeout against Norway at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics."

  • Brady Bunch house in L.A. granted historic landmark status (CBC) #LoveThis Although, I have found that when I reference virtual meeting layouts being like the 'Brady Bunch', I am increasingly culturally irrelevant #LoveMillennials "Here's the story — of how a modest mid-century home became a Los Angeles landmark. L.A. City Council voted unanimously [...] to designate the Brady Bunch house in the San Fernando Valley a historic-cultural monument."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment an Aussie saved a crocodile (CBC) Nice move! "Billy Collett, Park Manager at the Australian Reptile Park, tells The National about the moment he jumped into a river to save a crocodile more than 2,000 km from its habitat in Newcastle, Australia."

  • VIDEO: The fix for looksmaxxing? A wholesome, affirming forum for bald people (Yahoo Life) I am not balding but many of my friends are. This is for them in solidarity. "Balding is inevitable. Baldness is an act of resistance. R/bald is challenging male beauty norms, one post at a time."

  • The crossing guard making $14,000 a month mailing out her musings from the job (MSN) #Awesome "Christine Tyler Hill was working as a designer and illustrator when she decided she needed a fresh way to connect to her city. So she took a job as a crossing guard. Every weekday morning at 7:30, she stands at an intersection in Burlington, Vt., ensuring the safe passage of pedestrians, including children heading to a nearby school. During her 50-minute shift, she also takes in the scene, from the daily rhythms of commuters to the familiar faces to the shape of the clouds in the sky. Those observations pay well. Very well. The 36-year-old has parlayed interest in her daily musings into a one-woman publishing empire that is bringing in about $14,000 a month."

  • VIDEO: Scientists Invented an Entirely New Method of Refrigeration (Science Alert) #Yay "Say hello to ionocaloric cooling. It's a new way to lower temperatures, with the potential to replace existing chilling methods with a safer, better-for-the-planet process. Typical refrigeration systems transport heat away from a space via a fluid that absorbs heat as it evaporates into a gas, which is then transported through a closed tube and condensed back into a liquid. As effective as this process is, some of the choice materials we use as refrigerants are particularly unfriendly to the environment."

  • Record 4.5 billion yen in lost cash turned in to Tokyo police in 2025 (The Mainichi) Wow! "A record 4.5 billion yen ($29 million) in cash was turned in to Tokyo police as lost property in 2025, up 0.5 percent from the previous year, police statistics showed [...] reinforcing studies that have shown Japan ranks among the highest in the world for civic honesty. The largest single amount of cash brought to the police totaled 27 million yen, according to the Metropolitan Police Department's lost and found center."

  • VIDEO: His opera career stalled. Now he’s a car salesman, and his ads are viral. (Yahoo Entertainment) Love these ads. "Andrew Hiers was down on his luck. A classically trained opera singer, he didn’t have a steady singing gig for months. In January, the day after he turned 38, he started a job as a car salesman at a dealership near his home in Cocoa, Florida."

  • VIDEO: A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator (YouTube) NSFW #Funny but also, sadly, a bit on the nose. "Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved into enshittification and how to resist it. The report shows how this phenomenon affects both consumers and society at large, but that it is possible to turn the tide."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Predicting This Year’s Oscar Winners Using Just Math (Hollywood Reporter) The Oscars are this weekend. They were my mother's favourite (and never miss) show. I once called her during the Oscars and received a bit of a tongue-lashing when she called me back. I think of her every day but I will be fondly remembering her this weekend. RIP mom.

  2. Calgary’s St. Mary’s plans to double in size (Catholic Register) CALGARY STORY Congrats "St. Mary’s University in Calgary is poised to significantly grow its student population and campus space over the next several years."

  3. SASKATOON PUBLIC LIBRARY (Mass Timber Services) SASKATOON STORY Beautiful! Congrats to all. ViTreo is proud to have advised the Saskatoon Public Library on this important project. "The Saskatoon Central Library is a modern civic landmark that demonstrates the power of mass timber construction in large-scale public architecture. Drawing inspiration from Indigenous design principles, the building reflects cultural narratives of gathering, knowledge-sharing, and connection to place. Designed as a vibrant hub for learning, gathering, and cultural exchange, the building reflects Saskatoon’s commitment to sustainability, community, and forward-thinking design. The project incorporates precision-engineered mass timber systems, allowing the structure to contribute both to the building’s architectural expression and its environmental performance."

  4. AUDIO: Postal Codes and Power: Who Gets to Grow Canada’s Economy? Part I with Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (Business Data Lab) CANADIAN STORY A very interesting analysis of the presumption that people will move to opportunity? This is not necessarily the case in Canada. Perhaps opportunity needs to move to other people. "What if economic growth is real but only in certain places? In this special two-part episode, [they] move beyond headline GDP to examine the territorial foundations of economic development. Guest Dr. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Princesa de Asturias Chair in Economic Geography at the London School of Economics, and Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre, draws on decades of research to explain how regions fall into what he calls a development trap. These are not necessarily the poorest places. They are often middle-income regions that once thrived and are now quietly falling behind. Policy concentrates investment in major hubs and assumes spillovers will follow — the evidence suggests otherwise."

  5. VIDEO: What's climate change doing to avalanches and how we predict them? (CBC) CANADIAN CONTENT It has been a scary year. "In February, five people were killed in separate avalanches across B.C. and Alberta. That same month, more than a dozen people were killed in California and Utah, including a particularly deadly avalanche that claimed the lives of nine. In Europe, from Andorra to Slovakia, the season has recorded 125 deaths from avalanches so far. These tragedies highlight the ever-present risk of backcountry recreation, even as some of those killed were experienced and well-equipped for avalanche dangers. But they also highlight the challenges to knowing when an avalanche will strike. CBC News spoke with three experts to find out how avalanches form, why they're hard to predict and whether climate change will make them more dangerous."

  6. VIDEO: Calgary Public Library's call for AI artists met with real life backlash (CBC) CALGARY STORY "The Calgary Public Library is looking for an artist who ethically uses AI to create their work. One person will be chosen for a 10-week residency. The new program has received a fair amount of backlash, including from Calgary's mayor."

  7. VIDEO: Surging gas prices take toll on Calgary charities (CBC) CALGARY STORY "Soaring prices at the pump are taking a toll on Calgary charities that provide transportation and delivery services to those in need. Between picking up groceries and delivering food hampers to clients with medical needs, the Calgary Food Bank spends an average of $10,000 in fuel each month. But as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran continues, that expense is increasing fast."

  8. With investment flowing, fusion energy’s long shot has become a gold rush (Corporate Knights) #FingersCrossed. "The history of nuclear fusion power is littered with disappointments. Since 1952, scientists have been conducting fusion reactions in attempts to recreate the way the sun generates energy. Time and again, the massive reactors consumed more energy than was produced. 'We’ve been saying fusion is 30 years away for 60 years,' says Jason Donev, physics professor and associate director of the new energy-science major at the University of Calgary."

  9. VIDEO: Canadians are drinking less, driving the biggest drop in alcohol sales in 20 years: StatsCan (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "The numbers are as sobering as a zero-proof margarita. Canadians are buying less alcohol, leading to the largest annual drop in beer, wine and spirits sales in the 20 years Statistics Canada has tracked the data, according to the agency's latest report. Sales of alcoholic beverages fell 1.6 per cent to $25.8 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, despite a 1.6 per cent increase in prices during that same period. That's because sales by volume dropped for the fourth year in a row as Canadians of legal drinking age purchased fewer drinks per week."

  10. University of Waterloo names new president (Cambridge Today) WATERLOO STORY Congrats Dr. Rosehart. "Bill Rosehart has been appointed the new president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, an appointment that will begin July 1. Rosehart has been serving as provost and vice-president (academic) at U of G since Aug. 1, 2024. Beforehand, he spent over two decades at the University of Calgary in numerous roles, from professor to deputy provost, all the way up to the dean of the Schulich School of Engineering. He is an engineering graduate from UW."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. VIDEO: Why do office chairs have 5 legs? (YouTube) This is actually a really cool design/math article.

  2. 12 French Words to Live By This Year (French en Poesie) I often experience retrouvailles.

  3. VIDEO: Man clearly explains the difference between a road, street, avenue, and more in just 2 minutes (Upworthy) And now, I know and you know. :-) (Fascinating actually).

  4. Why 'Viking wellness' is having a moment (BBC) I love my nordic spa.

  5. Why Everyone Should Read Poetry (Atlas Writes) I collect poetry books. Poetry always inspires me.

  6. My Seven Rules for Health (Brady Holmer) A reminder but included primarily for the comments on alcohol.

  7. The “One-Shelf Library” That Changed How I Read Forever (Books Are Our Superpower) Brilliant, I am doing this.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Queen's Park North could be getting $50M facelift, courtesy of the Weston family (CBC) TORONTO STORY Yes please! "One of the first municipal parks in Canada, Toronto’s Queen’s Park North, could soon be the recipient of a multi-million dollar revitalization project, courtesy of the Weston Foundation. The park just north of Ontario’s legislature opened in 1860 and the city was able to make some recent improvements to it in 2019, but stopped short of doing more due to budget constraints. The Weston family wants to give the city up to $50 million to revitalize the park, along with ongoing annual funding to keep it in good condition."

  2. Penn Receives Nearly $84 Million Gift — Largest Donation In the School’s History (Philadelphia Today) "The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences recently received its largest gift in the institution’s history, writes Ryan Mulligan for Philadelphia Business Journal. P. Roy and Diana Vagelos donated $83.9 million to Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, shattering the school’s previous record of $50 million, also donated by the Vageloses, in 2019."

  3. Clément Roy a légué un million de dollars à son alma mater (Actualités UQAM) QUEBEC STORY Bravo UQAM! "Le diplômé Clément Roy a choisi de soutenir durablement l’UQAM, son alma mater, par un legs testamentaire totalisant un million de dollars. Ce geste philanthropique témoigne d’un attachement profond à la mission universitaire, à la recherche en sciences humaines et à l’accessibilité aux études. Clément Roy a entrepris son parcours universitaire à l’UQAM à l’âge adulte, conciliant études et travail. Il obtient un baccalauréat en sociologie, puis un baccalauréat en enseignement en adaptation scolaire et sociale. Ce cheminement, exigeant et atypique, reflète une détermination profonde et une confiance solide dans le pouvoir transformateur de l’éducation."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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