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Bill Madden: The Mets hitting will come around, but the pitching is a different story

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

There’s no way to sugarcoat this. Steve Cohen’s $346 million Mets are off to an extremely disappointing start. They’re not hitting, having been shut out a major league worst seven times, one fewer than all of last season. And they’re not pitching, with only six quality starts, 28th fewest in baseball.So what’s a manager to do?Right now, Buck Showalter has to grin and bear it. He knew starting out he would be managing this year with a major handicap — one huge reliever short — after Edwin Diaz blew out his knee celebrating in the World Baseball Classic. What he did not see was his hitters going into such an early season malaise. But that he has to believe will soon turn around, although it may require an injection of Ronny Mauricio, who continues to tear it up in Triple-A, at second base and Jeff McNeil moving to the outfield (where both Starling Marte and Mark Canha have so far been mostly impotent). It is also worth noting that Francisco Li...

‘Unacceptable’: Ontario police investigating road rage incident that led to serious crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) continue to investigate a road rage incident involving two motorcyclists and an SUV driver on a busy highway.OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers in Toronto responded to a multi-vehicle incident on Thursday, May 11, on Highway 401 near Harmony Road.Two motorcyclists and a vehicle were entangled in a road rage incident that allegedly saw the two motorcyclists on both sides of the SUV on Highway 401. They cut the driver off and began brake-checking the driver, leading to a serious collision.One motorcyclist was rushed to a trauma centre with serious and potentially life-threatening injuries.“Not very harmonic,” Sgt. Schmidt said.“Motorcyclists need to remember how vulnerable they are to injury when they’re involved in collisions. Whether you’re right or wrong, motorcyclists are going to be the ones that pay the price if they go down.”Sgt. Schmidt said there is no place for road rage under any circumstances.“Thes...

Players, coaches excited for historic WNBA game in Canada

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

It has been 26 years since the first WNBA game was played. The ball went up on the historic matchup on June 27, 1997, between the Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. Almost three decades later, another monumental moment in women’s sports is happening.The league is holding its first game in Canada when the Chicago Sky takes on the Minnesota Lynx at Scotiabank Arena.Tickets for the game sold-out fast, and with expansion talks for the league (Yes, Toronto is in the conversation), this is a test run to see if a franchise would work north of the border.There are only 12 teams in the WNBA, and more are needed to showcase talent worldwide. Presently, there is only one Canadian on either roster — Bridget Carleton of Chatham-Kent, Ont., who plays for the Lynx.CityNews spoke to the coaches and several players from both teams before tip-off.(CN) We are just a few hours away from tip-off. What were your reactions when you initially heard you would be playing in the first WNBA g...

Stellantis explores “contingency plans,” accuses Ottawa of failing on plant deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

One of the world’s biggest automakers says the federal government has not lived up to its deal to build a battery plant in Windsor, Ont.Stellantis and South Korean battery-maker LG Energy Solution say they will immediately begin implementing contingency plans.The Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat maker has not said what those contingency plans involve.Stellantis and LG committed $5-billion last year to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor with financial support from all levels of government.A spokeswoman for federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says negotiations with Stellantis are ongoing.The federal government and Ontario recently closed a deal with Volkswagen to build an EV battery plant that includes billions of dollars in government subsidies.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

DeSantis and Trump will look to sway Iowa GOP activists at dueling events

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump will share the spotlight in Iowa on Saturday, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans’ leadoff voting state.DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, is set to wade into Iowa’s hand-to-hand politicking at a congressman’s annual picnic and an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser, while Trump, a candidate since November, hopes to show strength with an outdoor rally with supporters. Although the two men will be hours away from each other, the split-screen moment in Iowa is a first for the two national Republican powerhouses. It’s an early preview of a match-up between the former president, well ahead of his party rivals in early national polls, and DeSantis, who is viewed widely as his strongest potential challenger. It will be DeSantis’ first trip to the early testing ground si...

Funerals to be held for Quebec firefighters killed during floods in Charlevoix region

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

SAINT-URBAIN, Que. — Funerals for two Quebec volunteer firefighters who died earlier this month during flash floods in the Charlevoix region will be private affairs.The municipality of St-Urbain, northeast of Quebec City says the families of both Régis Lavoie, 55, and Christopher Lavoie, 23, wanted to proceed with simple services in the image of the two fallen men and did not want civic funerals.Régis Lavoie’s funeral will take place later today at the St-Urbain church in the town about 110 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.The municipality says Christopher Lavoie’s funeral is scheduled for May 26.The two men — who are not related — were swept away by floodwaters on May 1 during a rescue mission in St-Urbain, Que., northeast of Quebec City.Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said that one of the firefighters used his own amphibious ATV to try to reach a couple whose home was surrounded by water in the town.Their bodies were discovered two days later about 500 metres ap...

Housing advocates warn GOP spending plan would be ‘disastrous’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

Housing advocates are raising the alarm about House Republicans’ plan to dramatically cut the federal deficit to raise the debt ceiling, warning rental aid would be stripped from hundreds of thousands of struggling families who could face eviction and possible homelessness at a time when rents remain high.House Republicans narrowly passed a sweeping measure last month that would roll back non-defense spending to 2022 levels — a proposal the National Low Income Housing Coalition said would slash housing and homelessness programs by 23%, a significant blow to the Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance program that around 2.3 million families rely on to cover rent.“House Republicans’ plan would have drastic negative impacts on communities’ abilities to address homelessness and the housing crisis,” Diane Yentel, the coalition’s CEO and president, told The Associated Press. “If these proposals were enacted, it would mean communities would have to take away housing assistance from peopl...

Scabby the Rat gives bite to union protests, but is he at the tail end of his relevancy?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has loomed over union protests, drawing attention to various labor disputes.As New York City deals with an influx of actual rats, Scabby the Rat has become that rare thing, like Pizza Rat or Buddy the Rat — a rodent New Yorkers can rally behind.But in the era of TikTok and influencer culture, middle-aged Scabby faces a new challenge: staying relevant.“It’s kind of unfortunate, changing times, older members of the public know exactly what the rat is for,” said James Smith, union activity administrator for the NYC District Council of Carpenters. “The newer generation sometimes doesn’t — one person thought that we were protesting a building that needed an exterminator.”Nevertheless, Scabby’s not collecting hard-won retirement benefits just yet. Most recently, Scabby has been making the rounds at various picket lines in New York for the Hollywood writers strike organized b...

Environment a background issue in Alberta election but may play role, say observers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

EDMONTON — Few governments have seen as many environmental dust-ups as Alberta’s United Conservatives in their four-year tenure.They tried delisting parks and opening the Rocky Mountains to coal mining. They charged fees for a beloved alpine playground. They started an inquiry into whether environmental groups were “anti-Alberta.” They proposed dunning taxpayers for the cleanup costs of abandoned oil and gas facilities. The list goes on. But how those issues play in the upcoming provincial election is not a simple question, observers say. Albertans have a complicated and even contradictory relationship with the landscape in which they both play and make their living. “Most Albertans want economic growth and environmental sustainability the same way they want low taxes and high-quality public services,” said University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley. “They don’t want to make that choice.”Recent polling suggests about two to...

‘Human compassion’: Albertans lend a helping hand to wildfire evacuees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:47 GMT

Woodland Cree Elder Leonard Cardinal, his wife and their son prepared more than 100 bagged lunches earlier this week and delivered them to evacuees from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, a northwestern Alberta community hit hard by one of the dozens of wildfires burning across the province. They also travelled from Grande Prairie with a trailer full of clothing and other items to High Level, some 450 kilometres north, where some evacuees from Fox Lake and Rainbow Lake have been staying. “I think it’s just the human compassion that we have and empathy for other people to do things to help as much as we can,” said Cardinal, with Thunderbird Inc., a consultancy that offers land-based teachings and workshops. “When you have to leave your home, a lot of times you are not able to grab the things you need.”Cardinal’s family are among many Albertans pitching in to help the thousands of people who have been displaced by wildfires in recent weeks. Jena Clarke, dir...