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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith set to launch sweeping health-delivery changes in 2024

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith is set to take scalpel and bone saw to Alberta’s $17-billion health-delivery system in 2024, while simultaneously scrambling to keep and find more family doctors.One goal can’t wait on the other, Smith said in a recent year-end interview.“We won’t be able to solve the front-line problems without doing a massive reorganization,” said Smith.“Our nurses are getting burnt out after two years and leaving our system. Paramedics last about five years on average. Doctors have reduced their private practice andnot enough are going into primary care.“That’s a management problem … decisions that either don’t get made or get pushed off, or bad decisions get made. And that has a huge impact on morale.”Smith’s United Conservative Party government is expected in the spring sitting to begin passing laws to make good on her plan to dismantle Alberta Health Services, the centralized body that oversees ...

Expert says number of police shootings in Canada ‘spectacularly unrelenting’

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

The family of a woman shot by an officer in Edmonton during a wellness check says her death was unnecessary, as the number of police shootings across Canada show little sign of relenting over the past four years. “I see my daughter’s death as being a result of a complete mishandling of the tools available to law enforcement in the application of dealing with mental health issues,” the family of the woman, who has not been publicly identified, says in a statement from their lawyer, Tom Engel.Edmonton police have said officers were called for a welfare check earlier this month. There were risks the woman may harm herself, so police say officers entered the apartment, there was a confrontation and the woman was shot. Family says that had the police approach been gradual and gentle, she would have understood the nature of the visit and would still be alive. A tally compiled by The Canadian Press found police shot at 85 people in Canada between Jan. 1 and...

5 discontinued foods we mourned in 2023

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – It’ll be easier to stick to your New Year’s resolutions now that some of your favorite snacks and junk foods have been discontinued.Americans were treated to a bevy of culinary creations in 2023 (e.g., BORGs, Grimace Shakes, “girl dinners,” etc.). But for every exciting or perplexing innovation, another longtime foodstuff seemed to disappear due to low sales, lack of interest or supply-chain issues.In some cases, fans urged their favorite brands to bring the snacks back — and a few campaigns were actually successful. In most cases, however, these discontinued products remain as extinct as New Coke.Here’s a short list of the foods we mourned in 2023, but haven’t yet forgotten:(Getty Images)Trader Joe’s Minty MallowsTrader Joes confirmed in December 2023 that Minty Mallows — a chocolate-covered peppermint marshmallow product usually found during the holidays — are no longer offered in stores.A representative for Trader Joe’s did not specify why Minty Mallows were discontin...

Joe Soucheray: Are we headed for another ‘Year Without Winter’? It’s too soon to tell

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Mud.That was the principal difference between this winter and the winter of 1877-78.Mud. It made Christmas travel miserable and miserably slow. Wagon wheels got clogged. Horses became exhausted. Sleigh delays must have rivaled the inconvenience of the modern airport. Finery took a beating in a slip or splash, mixed as the mud was with, well, mixed as it was.Veteran TV meteorologist John (Doppler) Dooley sent me the fascinating facts of “The Year Without Winter: 1877-78.” Facts tend to be important. We’ve been sold the hysterically childish notion that a “climate crisis” is responsible for the look out your window. There is no such thing as a climate crisis except for the urgency with which green theologians would have us return to the days of mud. The Yellowstone caldera blowing up would result in a climate crisis, but that wouldn’t be man-made now, would it?According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the winter of 1877-78 was the warmest on record for the Twin...

New ice fishing law aims to keep Minnesota lakes cleaner

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Robert Gorecki said he’s seen just about everything imaginable left behind on a frozen Minnesota lake after ice anglers head back to shore: cigarette butts, cans and bottles, bags of human waste.Garbage and other debris left behind on the ice after someone moved their ice fishing shelter. A new Minnesota law passed in the 2023 session now allows conservation officers to issue citations to anyone who has left garbage or waste on the ice. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)“Once we found an entire couch someone left out there. … And the white plastic bags from people’s porta-potties are pretty bad,” said Gorecki, a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ enforcement bureau. “Probably the worst of all is when someone with a wheelhouse (an ice fishing camper on wheels) pulls the plug on their sewage holding tanks and drains it on the ice as they drive away. … There seem to be a few guys out there who will spend $50,000 on ...

Working Strategies: 75 Resolutions for the New Year

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Amy LindgrenDo people still make New Years’ resolutions? I do, although I’ve noticed  a change over the past few years. Instead of a longer list of self-challenges, I’ve gone to shorter, more amorphous goals. You know — things like, “Be kinder” and “Stress less.”Well, that’s kind of embarrassing. Did the pandemic shift me from being a go-getter into someone just trying to get through the day? Not that getting through isn’t a worthy goal. Sometimes it’s nearly more than we can manage. But this year I’m determined to break out of the sleep-walk I’ve been in, and push for something a bit more productive in my goal-setting.If you want to join me, I’ve adapted one of my long-ago lists to provide 25 options in each of three categories: job search, career development and personal management. The 75 resolutions range from small adjustments to major projects; by choosing five in each category, you’ll have a decent set of challenging but achievable goals for 2024.Job Search Resolutions1...

Woman dead after late-night shooting in South L.A.

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

A woman was shot and killed in South Los Angeles on Friday night, authorities said. Gunfire erupted on 107th Street between Western and Normandie Avenues just before midnight, according to preliminary information.  California man injured by rogue wave shares harrowing tale The unidentified female victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. No information on a motive or sus...

Paula Abdul sues 'American Idol' producer Nigel Lythgoe alleging sexual assault

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her while she was working on “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”Lythgoe is best known as the executive producer of the hit reality competition shows — he produced "American Idol" from 2002 to 2014 and "So You Think You Can Dance" from 2005 to 2014.According to Variety, Abdul claimed in the early years of working on “American Idol,” Lythgoe had sexually assaulted her and again in 2014 when she was working on “So You Think You Can Dance.”During the first alleged assault, Abdul claims Lythgoe shoved her against the wall of an elevator before grabbing her genitals and breasts, and shoving his tongue down her throat. She pushed him away and when the elevator doors opened, she ran out and called her representatives for help.LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 27: Paula Abdul (L) and Nigel Lythgoe arrive at the Dizzy Feet Foundation's 3rd Annual Celebration of Dance Gala held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on ...

Steve Garvey gaining momentum in California's U.S. Senate race

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Former Major League Baseball star Steve Garvey continues to gain traction in the race to succeed the late Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate.A recent poll from Politico shows Garvey, who is running as a Republican, with the support of 19% of likely California voters, second to Congressman Adam Schiff’s 28%. A Policy Institute of California poll conducted in mid-November had Garvey at 10%, trailing both Schiff (21%) and Rep. Katie Porter (16%).Earlier this month, Garvey toured the oft-neglected Salton Sea and broadly outlined his priorities for the region, which has become a focal point after a U.S. Department of Energy analysis found it could hold one of the largest lithium brine deposits in the world.“People first. The ecology and environment second, and then the development of a potentially vast resource for building of batteries and eventually cleaner energy” he told reporters.Garvey also toured the U.S.-Mexico border where he met with Border Patrol agents and social workers.A P...

U. of Md. student, Howard Co. resident dies after College Park car crash

Published Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:08 GMT

Prince George’s County, Maryland, police said a Clarksville resident involved in a collision at the University of Maryland, College Park campus earlier this month has died.Erik Mechtel, 22, was in the area of Campus Drive and Mowatt Lane at around 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 16 when the crash happened, according to a news release from the department.A police investigation revealed that Mechtel was struck by an SUV after it struck a median. The driver of the SUV remained at the scene of the crash and cooperated with the department, according to police.Mechtel was hospitalized with serious injuries related to the crash, suffering broken bones before entering a coma, according to family and community members. He died Thursday from his injuries.The 22-year-old Marylander was a senior, and undergraduate research assistant with the Joint Quantum Institute Hafezi Group, plus a researcher in the Space Power & Propulsion Lab in the university’s Department of Aerospace Engineering. His ...