Emails show an early draft of Saskatchewan’s school pronoun policy would have allowed teachers to use a child’s preferred identification if there was concern the student faced danger when parents were notified.  Premier Scott Moe’s government announced the policy last year. It requires teachers to have parental consent when children under 16 want to change […]

The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said.  The Environmental Protection Agency never approved that designation after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment even though the disaster forced the evacuation of […]

Compared to the province’s fleet of older fossil fuel buses, a significant percentage of new electrics are out of order at any given time, according to a January email from the Public Schools Branch’s director of transportation, Dave Gillis, to Norbert Carpenter, Deputy Minister of Environment. The email was obtained by The Graphic through a […]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Senate’s minority leader proposed legislation Tuesday to overhaul Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board after it released a convicted domestic abuser who then attacked a pregnant Chicago woman with a knife and fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son.  Republican Leader John Curran criticized Pritzker and said he plans legislation to […]

Ontario is boosting its funding for autism services by $60 million over last year, and while advocates say new money in the recent provincial budget is welcome, thousands of children will still be unable to access therapy. The budget announced $120 million for the autism program, but the government later clarified that includes a $60-million […]

Carl Grant, a Vietnam veteran with dementia, wandered out of a hospital room to charge a cellphone he imagined he had. When he wouldn’t sit still, the police officer escorting Grant body-slammed him, ricocheting the patient’s head off the floor. Taylor Ware, a former Marine and aspiring college student, walked the grassy grounds of an […]

Small drug seizures in Vancouver dropped at a “dramatic” rate after decriminalization came into effect in British Columbia, the city’s police department says.  Insp. Phil Heard, who oversees the department’s drug unit, told a news conference Tuesday that reports that claimed otherwise are “patently false.” Researchers Tyson Singh and Liam Michaud wrote an article about […]

The Ontario government tabled a budget Tuesday that forecast a ballooning deficit, investments in the home and community care sector, and support for a first-of-its-kind medical school. Here are the highlights:  BALLOONING DEFICIT Ontario is projecting a deficit of $9.8 billion in the coming fiscal year, almost double what was projected in its fall economic […]

Two more beluga whales have died at Marineland, bringing the total number of whale deaths since 2019 to 17.  Ontario’s Animal Welfare Services has been investigating the Niagara Falls tourist attraction since 2020. “The ministry has been made aware that two beluga whales at Marineland have passed away this March,” said Brent Ross, a spokesman […]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A state parole board member resigned Monday after recommending the release of a man who a day later attacked a pregnant Chicago woman with a knife and fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son while he tried to protect her, according to authorities. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board’s handling of the case prompted […]

On Monday morning, Vancouver Park Board employees erected a blue fence around a homeless encampment in CRAB Park — separating residents from their shelters and belongings. As park rangers and police began preparing the site to be cleared, residents of the camp on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ territories watched from outside the newly constructed barrier. […]

Hospitals and long-term care homes spent nearly $1 billion last year to fill shifts with nurses and personal support workers from private staffing agencies, a Ministry of Health document estimates. A November 2023 staffing agency update obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request shows that agency use increased from 2021-22 to 2022-23 by […]