The family of Baeleigh Maurice, the nine year old girl who was killed by a car on her way to school is asking authorities to appeal a judge’s ruling to stay charges against the woman who was charged in her death.

On Sept. 9, 2021, Maurice was killed when she was hit crossing the road in Saskatoon.

The driver was charged with impaired driving. But because of the length of the judicial process, the judge stayed the charges.

The post Family of Baeleigh Maurice call for appeal of judge’s decision to stay case against driver appeared first on APTN News.

The NWT's population rose to 44,936 in a newly published estimate, the highest on record once recent adjustments are taken into account.

41,500 children (more than one in five) children in Nova Scotia are living in poverty.

The post ‘We don’t stack up’: New report shows another jump in Nova Scotia’s child poverty rate appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man being held in jail fatally assaulted a detention officer who was returning him to his cell following the one hour he was allowed out of his lockup each day, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Isaiah Patrick Bias, a 28-year-old who worked at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for over six years, was assaulted Monday afternoon at the county jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas. Sheriff Brad Norman said during a Tuesday news conference that Arron Semeion Thompson, 45, from nearby Ennis, has been charged with capital murder in Bias’ death.

“Most of the time, law enforcement officers and detention officers deal with good folks having a bad day. Occasionally, we deal with bad folks,” Norman said. “I can honestly say that my staff, over the last day, has dealt with pure evil.”

Norman said Bias was a family-oriented person and beloved by colleagues.

“He was one of the kind of guys who if you needed help, he’d come help you,” Norman said.

Officials said Thompson has been in jail since last month on charges of assaulting a public servant, public intoxication and evading arrest.

Thompson’s bond in Bias’ death was set at $2 million. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.

Norman said the Texas Rangers will investigate.

The Associated Press

The Saskatchewan Roughriders received the top grades in the CFL Players' Association's first-ever team report cards.

Despite some work on changing point of sales systems, retailers and restauranteurs say the tax break could be good news.

The post ‘It’s been very smooth for us’: Small local Nova Scotia businesses respond to HST tax holiday appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

Two officers with the Central Saanich Police Service have been arrested after an investigation by Vancouver police.

The City of Winnipeg will be enforcing a multi-day residential parking ban following recent snowfall, starting Wednesday at 7 p.m. and continuing until Saturday at 7 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge last week dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit that led the Alabama Supreme Court to rule that frozen embryos are “extrauterine children,” a decision that drew national attention and temporarily halted in vitro fertilization services in the state.

A couple, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit over the accidental destruction of their last frozen embryo, asked to drop the suit. A judge granted the request and dismissed the case Friday, according to state court records. Two other couples had dropped similar lawsuits in August.

The court order did not detail the reason for dropping the lawsuit or if a settlement had been reached. Trip Smalley, a lawyer representing the couple, did not immediately return an email and telephone message seeking comment.

The three couples had their embryos destroyed in 2020 when a hospital patient wandered into the storage area. The patient opened the container, picked up embryos and dropped them to the floor.

The Alabama Supreme Court in February ruled that the three couples could pursue wrongful death claims for the destruction of the embryos. Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child, “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”

The decision became a flashpoint in the national debate over abortion and raised liability concerns for fertility clinics as they create, store and work with frozen embryos. Three large IVF providers in Alabama paused services in the wake of the ruling. Facing a public backlash to the decision, Alabama lawmakers approved immunity legislation to shield doctors from lawsuits and get IVF services restarted in the state.

The couple, who had turned to IVF to have children, said in their 2021 lawsuit that the accident destroyed their final frozen embryo, which was being stored at the facility. Even though they had chosen not to implant it, “they considered this embryo a human being or life,” their lawyer wrote in the lawsuit.

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — After a nearly two-month delay, the Pinellas County Commission voted Tuesday in favor of its share of financing for a new $1.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, part of a plan to keep the team in St. Petersburg for another 30 years.

The overall plan, with its slogan “Here To Stay,” was approved by the county commission and city of St. Petersburg officials this summer, but votes on the funding for the deal have proven more contentious and were delayed.

Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to approve its share of the bonds necessary to build the new 30,000-seat ballpark. The county vote Tuesday was 5-2 for bonds that would be funded by tourist or “bed” taxes that cannot be spent on things such as hurricane recovery.

Under the agreement, the city and county would put up about half the cost, with the Rays covering the rest, including any cost overruns.

“We’re upholding our part of the bargain,” City Council Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders said at a meeting earlier this month. “We said we were going to do this. We’re doing it. Now what you got?”

The county’s share of bond financing approved Tuesday is about $312.5 million. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met recently with several skeptical commissioners to stress the project’s importance and the league’s desire to keep a team in the Tampa Bay region.

“He is committed to this market. Rob Manfred is the reason I am voting yes on this today,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala.

The proposal caps years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea Major League Baseball rejected.

Under the stadium deal, the Rays commit to remain in St. Petersburg for another 30 years. But the Rays will play this season in Tampa at the New York Yankees’ spring training site, Steinbrenner Field, because of hurricane damage to Tropicana Field.

The Rays say costs of the new ballpark will inevitably rise because its planned opening will be delayed at least a year, from 2028 to 2029. It’s not clear what those extra costs will be, but cost overruns are the responsibility of the Rays under the agreement.

Matt Silverman, co-president of the Rays, said in a statement after the county vote that the team “cannot absorb this increase alone” and that further negotiations are likely.

“When the county and city wish to engage, we remain ready to solve this funding gap together,” Silverman said.

The proposed stadium is a signature piece of a broader $6.5 billion revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly Black neighborhood that was forced out by construction of the Trop and an interstate highway spur.

Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans for a Black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues, plus office and retail space — and the promise of thousands of jobs.

“This is much, much bigger than a stadium,” Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters said at a November meeting. “It’s about the investment we can make and the return on that investment that can guarantee we can keep our taxes low.”

___ Kate Payne, who reported from Tallahassee, is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Curt Anderson And Kate Payne, The Associated Press

Nunavik MP Sylvie Bérubé says she denounces the federal government’s fall economic statement delivered Monday.

The statement’s release followed the abrupt resignation earlier in the day of finance minister Chrystia Freeland. Instead of being introduced by Freeland, it was instead tabled by Liberal House leader Karina Gould.

Bérubé, the Bloc Quebecois member whose Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding includes Nunavik, said the update will go down in history for the wrong reasons and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has lost the confidence of his own cabinet and MPs.

“All that Quebecers will remember from this exercise are the historic deficits caused by electoral handouts, which are dividing the Liberals and which led minister Chrystia Freeland to resign,” Bérubé said in a written response to Nunatsiaq News.

“This is the first time a government has been so divided that a finance minister refuses to present the exercise, refuses to take responsibility for it, and resigns dramatically.”

In a letter addressed to Trudeau and posted to social media, Freeland questioned the prime minister’s handling of the economy and said she and Trudeau had been “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”

Noting U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on products imported from Canada, Freeland decried “costly political gimmicks” that Canada cannot afford now.

The government instituted a two-month GST holiday on many products for the Christmas period, and proposed a one-time $250 rebate for most working Canadians for early next year.

The economic statement revealed a deficit of nearly $61.9 billion for the last fiscal year — approximately $20 billion more than Freeland said it would be earlier this year.

Bérubé said the update lacks “concrete measures” to help citizens in Nunavik and the federal government is failing to meet their needs.

“Our communities have unique challenges in terms of affordable housing, assistance for seniors, access to services and support for businesses,” she said.

“This document marks a new milestone in the disintegration of the Liberal government, which we are witnessing in real time.”

Bérubé said Trudeau does not have the legitimacy to govern without a new mandate and should call an election, echoing a similar statement by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet on Tuesday that pushed for an election as early as January.

On Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for Trudeau to “resign” after Freeland quit cabinet.

Nunatsiaq News attempted to contact Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout but she was not available for comment.

Two men have been arrested for sexual assault and sexual interference in a case where three teen girls were driven into the city and assaulted by two un-identified men after contact with one of the teen's through social media, say Winnipeg police.