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Toronto’s final major Union Station construction project now set to finish in 2025

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

It has been two years since City of Toronto officials announced a formal end to a massive, $825-million renovation of Union Station, but a large exterior security project set to be done in 2023 has been postponed until 2025.After the Yonge Street van attack in 2018, municipal crews moved quickly to boost security around Union Station. That push to boost safety saw dozens of concrete barriers installed on Front Street West in a bid to add protection to Canada’s busiest rail hub.However, CityNews recently visited the forecourt of Union Station and saw a number of decaying barriers. Some were stuffed with garbage and other items. One barrier had a hand-written sign telling residents and visitors where the bicycle station was located.“That’s one of the main gateways to go into the city. It definitely needs some love,” Victor Perez-Amado, a public realm expert and an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said when asked about the current state of...

Intact Financial Corp. earns $163 million in third quarter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

TORONTO — Intact Financial Corp. says it earned $163 million in the third quarter, less than half its earnings a year ago when it brought in $375 million. The company says earnings worked out to 83 cents per share, down from $2.05 during the same quarter last year. It says net operating income per share was $2.10, down from $2.78 a year earlier. Intact says increased catastrophe losses offset the impact of improving underwriting fundamentals, as well as higher earned premiums and investment income.Revenues totalled $6.9 billion for the quarter, up from $6.7 billion a year earlier. The company says that over the next 12 months, it expects hard insurance market conditions to continue in most lines of business, driven by inflation and natural disasters.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:IFC)The Canadian Press

Judge to rule on temporary block of North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota district judge said Tuesday he’ll decide soon on whether to temporarily block the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for children, among the latest in a series of similar lawsuits playing out across the U.S.Three families and a pediatrician are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in September. They want a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, ultimately permanent, to block enforcement of the law.They say the ban violates the state constitution, including the equal protection clause and fundamental rights to parent one’s children, rights to “personal autonomy and self-determination” and due process, and that it is “unconstitutionally vague.”“All of these families have been left to consider whether they may have to leave their home state of North Dakota just to make sure their kids can keep accessing this health care that has so positively impacted their lives and families,” said the plaintiffs’ l...

Toronto police identify man found shot to death in east end apartment complex

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Toronto police have identified a man who was shot to death at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s east end on Monday.Police say Mark Riley, 24, of Toronto, was pronounced dead at the scene inside the apartment building in the Kingston and Galloway roads area.Officers were called to the complex for reports of a shooting at around 12:40 p.m.A second man was found in the area suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital with serious but non life-threatening injuries.An officer on scene said Monday that the injured man is a suspect and is in police custody at hospital, but at this point “his medical needs are taking precedent.”Police have not yet announced any charges and can’t say if any other suspects are outstanding.

Linebacker Blake Martinez puts Pokemon trading card business on hold, returns to NFL with Panthers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Blake Martinez has put his embattled Pokemon trading card business on hold and is returning to the NFL.The 29-year-old linebacker has joined the Carolina Panthers practice squad and the team is hoping he can help offer some stability to a position that has been ravaged by injuries. The Panthers (1-7) play the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, although coach Frank Reich said he’s unsure if that will be enough time for Martinez to get up to speed given that he’s only participated in one practice.Martinez has been out of football since last November when he abruptly announced his retirement from the Las Vegas Raiders to focus on “family and future passions.”One of those passions included Pokemon cards.In 2022 he started “Blake’s Breaks,” a company which buys and sells Pokemon cards and reportedly did $8.3 million in revenue in just nine months, according to a CNBC report. One of his rare Pokemon cards was sold for $672,000.But his company’s reputation ...

Indigo reports lower sales, net loss in second quarter as customers cut back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

TORONTO — Indigo Books & Music Inc. reported a net loss of $22.4 million in its second quarter, down from a net loss of $15.9 million a year earlier. Revenues for the Toronto-based retailer were $206,885, down from $236,247 a year earlier.The company says it lost 80 cents per diluted share, down from a loss of 57 cents during the same quarter last year. Indigo says sales in person and online were negatively impacted by the challenging macro-economic environment, with reduced demand and heightened price sensitivity among shoppers. The company says these challenges were compounded by temporary disruptions from the launch of its new website. CEO Heather Reisman, who recently returned to the helm of the company, says her team is committed to returning Indigo to profit and growth. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:IDG)The Canadian Press

A North Carolina sheriff says 2 of his deputies and a suspect were serious wounded by gunfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

MAXTON, N.C. (AP) — Two sheriff’s deputies from a southeastern North Carolina county and a man who was the subject of a warrant were seriously wounded Tuesday during exchanges of gunfire, the local sheriff said. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said at a news conference the three men were shot around 9:30 a.m. in a community outside of Maxton, which is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Raleigh, close to the South Carolina border.The suspect and one of the deputies were in critical condition at hospitals, while the other deputy was in serious condition, the sheriff said. The suspect fled the area by getting into one of the wounded deputies’ cruisers and backing up, running over one of the deputies and breaking his leg. The suspect was ultimately captured by other deputies, according to the sheriff. At a news conference, Wilkins identified the shooting suspect as Shawn Tobin Locklear Jr., who at age 19 last December was accused of murder. The sheriff said ...

Highlights of Donald Trump’s hours on the witness stand at his New York civil fraud trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump went off. Again and again. Making the witness stand at his New York civil trial his podium, the former president laid into the judge who’ll decide the case and the state attorney general who sued him.During 3 1/2 hours of testimony on Monday, the Republican denied Attorney General Letitia James’ allegations that he duped banks by exaggerating his wealth on financial statements used to make deals and secure loans.“There was no victim. There was no anything,” he said.He bragged about his riches, saying he has “a lot of cash” and described one of the grown sons he put in charge of his company as a “hard working boy.” He said of his priorities while president: “My threshold was China, Russia and keeping our country safe.”Trump’s often verbose responses — replete with anecdotes about development projects, the intricacies of property valuations and complaints that he was a victim of a “political witch hunt” — led a frustrate...

Skilling: Rainy Wednesday ahead with possible thunderstorms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Temps cooled over yesterday's balmy 69 at O'Hare and 71 at Midway—which had been early October level temps.By comparison, highs Tuesday only made it to 54 at O'Hare and 56 at Midway readings some 15-deg cooler than on Monday.  And as northeast winds locked in Tuesday afternoon, temps had fallen back to the  mid to upper 40s up and down the western Lake Michigan shoreline. Late afternoon readings had pulled back to 46 at Waukegan, 47 at Wilmette, 48 Michigan City, Indiana and 49 at Calumet Harbor and at Burns Harbor in Indiana. The northeast winds are the result of a circulation developing beneath the southern flank of a Canadian high pressure ridging southward into the Midwest and the far eastern side of a developing low pressure in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.It's the Colorado/Kansas system which is eastbound and likely to bring Chicago occasional rain beginning late tonight in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning---though some precursor sprinkles may arrive earlier.The ...

ISP: Driver dead after being hit by driver in stolen car running from Porter County deputies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

PORTER, Ind. — A person is dead after they were hit by someone in a stolen car running from Porter County Sheriff's deputies Tuesday, according to Indiana State Police.The deputies were chasing the driver in a stolen car on U.S. 12 when the driver crossed the road and hit another car head-on in the other lane, ISP Sgt. Glen Fifield said in a press release. ‘Get the **** away from me’: Man accused of groping woman shopping in Northwest Indiana Walmart The driver of the car in the other lane died, Fifield said. Their identity hasn't been released yet.The driver of the stolen car was taken into custody. Their identity also hasn't been released. Indiana State Police is investigating and the Porter County Sheriff's Office is handling the criminal investigation.