The family of country singer Naomi Judd filed an amended court petition Friday to seal police reports and recordings made during the investigation into her death. The family filed the petition in Williamson County Chancery Court, saying the records contain video and audio interviews with relatives in the immediate aftermath of Judd’s death and releasing such details would inflict “significant trauma and irreparable harm.” The petition was filed on behalf of the singer’s husband Larry Strickland and her daughters Ashley and Wynonna Judd and was a more detailed follow-up toRead more

A man once briefly married to Britney Spears was convicted Friday of aggravated trespassing and battery at the pop star’s June wedding. Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded no contest to the two misdemeanor counts in a California court. The Ventura County judge sentenced him to the 64 days he has already served in jail. Prosecutors dropped charges of felony stalking and misdemeanor vandalism. Spears married longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on June 9, in front of several dozen guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, ParisRead more

Report found while club acted ‘expeditiously,’ there were issues with the investigation itself An independent investigation has concluded that the Vancouver Whitecaps’ response to allegations of misconduct by former women’s coaches Bob Birarda and Hubert Busby Jr. was serious and “appropriate.” But the report, prepared for Major League Soccer by lawyers Janice Rubin and Melody Jahanzadeh of Rubin Thomlinson LLP, says while the club acted “expeditiously” in hiring an experienced workplace investigator, there were issues with the investigation itself. MLS hired the law firm in November to review how theRead more

New regulation ‘big step’ for protecting animals in Quebec, ministry says A new regulation prohibiting “cosmetic surgeries” on cats and dogs has just been adopted in Quebec. The regulation, which will come into effect in 18 months, prohibits declawing, devocalization, tail docking and ear cropping of cats and dogs. These procedures will no longer be legal in Quebec unless done for medical reasons. The regulation respecting the welfare and safety of domestic animals and equines comes from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It also defines the minimum standardsRead more

Conservation specialists say Poweshiek skipperling, Dakota skipper play critical role in biodiversity The numbers of endangered butterflies in the Prairies are slowly creeping up thanks to a team of dedicated specialists in Manitoba, but more work needs to be done to protect their habitats to ensure the pollinators’ populations can continue to increase. Over three weeks in July, Assiniboine Park Conservancy staff released 191 critically endangered Poweshiek skipperling butterflies onto Nature Conservancy of Canada properties in the rural municipality of Stuartburn, southeast of Winnipeg. The butterflies are raised at the Assiniboine Park Zoo until they are oldRead more

Aydin Coban was convicted of harassment, extortion, child pornography and child luring A sentencing hearing for a Dutch national convicted of harassing and extorting British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd before she died by suicide has been scheduled for next month. Justice Martha Devlin set the hearing for Aydin Coban to begin on Sept. 20 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. A jury delivered a unanimous verdict on Saturday, convicting Coban of extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence, and possession and distribution of childRead more

Public safety minister s On the night before Justin Trudeau took the historic step of invoking the Emergencies Act during last February’s Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa, the prime minister’s national security and intelligence adviser told cabinet there was “potential for a breakthrough,” court documents reveal. The office of Canada’s public safety minister says the adviser was referring to negotiations led “principally” by the City of Ottawa that were “ultimately unsuccessful” after being “disavowed” by many associated with the convoy. The disclosure about the potential breakthrough, contained in the summary of a cabinet meetingRead more

‘This is the best season I can recall in my lifetime,’ says 40-year industry veteran The summer of 2022 is shaping up to be a bumper season for both pink and sockeye salmon in British Columbia rivers, with one veteran Indigenous fisherman reporting the biggest catches of sockeye in decades. Mitch Dudoward has worked in the salmon industry for more than 40 years, and says fishing on the Skeena River in northwest B.C. has never been better. “This is the best season I can recall in my lifetime with the numbers we are catching,”Read more

‘I believe that we are teaching responsible citizenship,’ assistant professor says The University of Prince Edward Island will now require all graduating students to have completed a course in Indigenous Studies. The course, part of the university’s newly established Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies (IKERAS), is launching this fall. Assistant professor David Varis, who is Cree and a member of the UPEI Indigenous Circle, says the Indigenous Teachings course will cover Indigenous history, cultures and practices. “We will also be getting into some very heavy topics, such as trauma, intergenerational trauma as a result of residentialRead more

Unifor is the largest private-sector union in Canada, representing more than 300,000 members In its first contested election in almost 10 years, Canada’s largest private-sector union has elected Lana Payne as the new national president of Unifor. She is the first woman to hold the position. “We have to consider that economic policy should be working for workers, and not just for a few corporations in this country,” said Payne after being elected. Payne was previously national secretary-treasurer of Unifor. She defeated executive assistant to the president Scott Doherty and Unifor Local 444 presidentRead more