Magic Johnson Honors Scholars
Magic Johnson, along with sponsor FedEx, honored 33 scholars who earned the Magic Johnson Foundation’s Taylor Michaels Scholarship this week at a special brunch at The Skirball Center.The morning event capped the Foundation’s annual five day Taylor Michaels Scholarship Program (TMSP) Conference, which offered new and past scholars life skills leadership training and career development workshops.Founded in 1998, the Taylor Michaels Scholarship Program is aptly named after Taylor Michaels, the inspiring Chief Operating Officer for Magic Johnson Enterprises who passed away that year. The program develops future leaders by supporting socioeconomically challenged high achievers through completion of their undergraduate degrees and offers support including laptops, mentorships and internships. TMSP Alumni have gone on to graduate from top Universities including USC, UCLA, Brown, Howard and Morehouse, amoung others.Since 1991, the Magic Johnson Foundation (MJF) has served and enriched urban communities nationwide. MJF evolved from an HIV grant-making organization to one that advocates for community-based organizations and supports educational empowerment through HIV/AIDS education/testing/awareness work, minority college access and digital literacy.Find out more here.
Renowned photographer and director Rankin has joined forces with UNICEF to create a 60-second film highlighting the plight of children uprooted by war, poverty and disaster, especially those separated from their families as they become refugees.Video: The labels we put on refugee & migrant children matter | UNICEFThe thought-provoking video urges people to see past the refugee and migrant labels and value each child as a child, first and foremost, no matter where they’re from.The film, set to Bastille’s poignant track ‘Four Walls’, depicts refugee and migrant children watching footage of children in danger around the world. Many of the children who are featured in the film are themselves refugees who have fled the horrors of war and are now trying to rebuild their lives. The film aims to challenge refugee stereotypes and prejudices by giving children a platform to express that they have the same hopes, fears and dreams as any other child.“I love filming with kids – they are so expressive, they don’t hold anything back,” said Rankin. “I’m a dad, I can relate to kids, but every now and then, while we were shooting this, it would hit me what some of these kids had been through.“Three Syrian children who were supposed to be in the film couldn’t come. The day before the shoot, their father found out that his brother had been killed in a bomb attack in Aleppo. These children still have close relatives in Syria who are in danger. They told me they miss their families and worry about them every day.“We shouldn’t label these kids and judge them when what they really need is love, safety and warmth. ‘Refugee’, what does that even mean to a child? A child is a child. And that is all that matters.”Around the world, nearly 50 million children are living outside their country of birth or are displaced within their own country, at least 28 million of them driven from their homes by war and conflict.The number of refugee and migrant children moving alone has reached a record high, increasing nearly five-fold since 2010. At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were recorded in some 80 countries in 2015-2016, up from 66,000 in 2010-2011.
Following the news that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her third child, actress, author, and long-time PETA supporter Alicia Silverstone has sent the royal a copy of her book The Kind Mama, which highlights the benefits of a plant-based pregnancy.“Embracing this kind way and getting your body as healthy as possible will allow you to enjoy a smoother and more enjoyable pregnancy — helping to ward off the symptoms that take away from it (fatigue, nausea, swelling, heartburn, sleeplessness, mood swings) — have a sweeter birth and post-partum experience, and be the healthiest, happiest mama,” says Silverstone.
Singer songwriter Jackson Browne announces a second benefit concert at Pechanga Resort & Casino on Sunday, February 25 at 7 PM, after Saturday’s show sold out.Jackson Browne announces a benefit concert at Pechanga Resort & CasinoThe benefit concert, Honoring Quiltman, will be held in the Pechanga Theater. Tickets go on sale January 18 at 3 PM (Pacific Time) through Ticketmaster.com.Accompanying Jackson are longtime band mates Bob Glaub (bass), Mauricio Lewak (drums), Val McCallum (guitar), Alethea Mills (vocals), Chavonne Stewart (vocals) and Jeff Young (keyboards). Also performing is John Trudell’s BAD DOG with Joel Rafael.The benefit concert, Honoring Quiltman, celebrates Quiltman Sahme, a traditional American Indian singer and drummer from Simnasho in Warm Springs, Oregon. In August of 2017, Quiltman lost his family home in the Warm Springs Reservation wildfire.In the early 1980s, Quiltman began performing with American Indian activist, speaker and poet John Trudell. Trudell was a leader of the Occupation of Alcatraz in the late 1960s and Chairman of the American Indian Movement from 1973-79. He passed away in December 2015. Quiltman continues to sing with the original band members of John Trudell’s BAD DOG. John Trudell’s BAD DOG includes Mark Shark (guitars), Ricky Eckstein (bass & keyboards), Billy Watts (guitars), Debra Dobkin (percussion), Quiltman and his son Teewhanee Sahme (traditional vocals) along with Joel Rafael (vocals).For more information, please visit www.jacksonbrowne.com.
Login/Register With: LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Facebook Rock Spirits, a division of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, which distributes the rye made in Alberta, did not return a call seeking comment.Rock also handles actor Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head vodka, which was initially banned from LCBO stores because of its clear glass skull-shaped bottle.Later in the day, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said the Liberal government is concerned about the tone of the whisky’s website, which plays heavily on the Trailer Park Boys’ affection for drink and encourages patrons to join in. When you mix the Trailer Park Boys and whisky, what could go wrong?The Ontario government is taking a second look at plans to start selling the east coast comedy troupe’s rye — Liquormen’s Ol’ Dirty Canadian Whisky — at LCBO stores across the province on Thursday.While bottles have been sold in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and elsewhere for over a year, the whisky’s cheeky website has raised eyebrows here over its liberal use of the f-word and advice to start drinking before 10 a.m. with a “six-paper joint” of marijuana. Advertisement
Word of the online marketing campaign, which includes a drink called the Heavy Metal D—, caught Premier Kathleen Wynne by surprise Monday.“I didn’t know about this,” she told reporters when asked about the website at a news conference on hospital parking rates. “None of that sounds particularly savoury to me . . . and dangerous in a lot of ways.” Advertisement Advertisement Twitter
TIFF’s hipper, more youthful sibling rolls into town this weekend, and promises to provide the city with stimulating, interactive entertainment and education for youth and adults alike.The Next Wave Film Festival boasts 19 carefully curated films that are free for humans under the age of 25 and priced at $11.50 to $14 for those with more years under their belt. It also includes panels with film-industry professionals — Oscar-nominated Moonlight cinematographer James Laxton will be holding a master class on Friday — as well as filmmaking workshops, tours of the TIFF Bell Lightbox studio, Q & As and even a fort to hang out in between movies.The entire festival is organized, programmed and promoted by 12 high school students — mostly girls — all passionate about different aspects of filmmaking processes and distribution. LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Advertisement “We all love film, and we come together from around the GTA and program the festival,” said Dasola Dina, a longtime Next Wave committee member and Grade 12 student. “We also help with youth outreach here at TIFF and provide a voice for other young people and their perspectives.” Advertisement Login/Register With: Facebook Advertisement Twitter
Facebook Twitter LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Advertisement Grand-Maitre teams with Juno-nominated Andrew Staniland in his exploration of the fast-changing world in “Caelestis.”Molnar partners with Juno-nominated composer Nicole Lizee on “Keep Driving, I’m Dreaming.” And Cote reunites with Kevin Lau – his past collaborator on the National Ballet’s “Le Petit Prince” – on the new work “Dark Angels.”“Encount3rs” will be staged at the NAC’s Southam Hall in Ottawa April 20-22. It is then slated to be restaged by the choreographers’ respective companies: Ballet BC from May 11 to 13; the National Ballet from June 16 to 22, 2018, and Alberta Ballet in the winter of 2018-19. Advertisement Login/Register With: Advertisement Choreographers from three Canadian ballet companies will join forces with homegrown composers for a new production debuting in Ottawa prior to heading across the country.“Encount3rs” will feature the works of Jean Grand-Maitre of Alberta Ballet, Emily Molnar of Ballet BC, and Guillaume Cote of the National Ballet of Canada.The three one-act ballets were commissioned by the Ottawa-based National Arts Centre where “Encount3rs” will have its world premiere. The performances will be accompanied by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the music will be recorded for commercial release.
Eve Ringuette in Le Dep, the first feature film by Sonia Bonspille Boileau, winner of the WIDC Feature Film Award. (COURTESY OF IMAGINENATIVE) Facebook Advertisement Advertisement Her first feature was Le Dep in 2015, about a young Innu woman held at gunpoint in her father’s convenience store and the trauma that results. It screened at Toronto’s imagineNATIVE festival.READ MORE Advertisement
Sonia Bonspille Boileau, a Mohawk filmmaker from Quebec, has won the Women in the Director’s Chair national WIDC Feature Film Award.The prize includes cash and in-kind services valued at nearly $200,000 to help female directors get their feature films made.Bonspille Boileau will use the award to complete Rustic Oracle, a drama about an 8-year-old Mohawk girl searching with her mother for her missing teenage sister, the WIDC said in a news release. Login/Register With: LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Twitter
Advertisement The multinational company says that beta trials of Spotify Ad Studio — a platform that allows marketers to upload full audio spots or scripts to be voiced by the company — have been expanded to include Canada and the United Kingdom. Login/Register With: The company doesn’t provide country-specific information about its audience but it has an estimated global audience of 159 million paying monthly active users and 92 million free monthly active users. Advertisement LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment TORONTO — The Spotify music-streaming business is pitching a way for Canadians to create their own audio advertising. Spotify charges its customers for each delivered advertisement, with the price affected by the targeting parameters and a $250 minimum payment in local currency.
Among the claims made by Spotify is that it can use consumer music preferences as a way to target advertising — in addition to age, sex and location. Advertisement Twitter The self-serve platform has been going through trials in the United States for about five months. Facebook The Spotify music-streaming business is pitching a low-cost way for Canadians to create their own audio advertising. Music streaming apps, including Spotify, are seen on an iPhone in New York on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jenny Kane
LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Twitter Advertisement Login/Register With: Facebook “Killing Eve” Season 2 is well on its way. For anyone unconvinced, BBC America offered up a pre-weekend treat with a few early glimpses at the new batch of episodes coming next year to the network. Newly minted Golden Globes co-host Sandra Oh returns as Eve Polastri, the MI5 official whose hunt for the prolific assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) brings the two closer than either of them could have expected.None of the first look photos feature the two together (audiences will have to wait a while for another dinner table summit), but there are plenty of clues as to what kind of new dangers each character will find themselves in once the story picks back up again. Advertisement
APTN National NewsInsite is at issue in the Supreme Court of Canada. It’s the country’s only safe injection site, it’s been running since 2003, and it owes its existence to an exemption in the Health Act. Lawyers are telling the Supreme Court to shut Insite’s doors; the people Insite has saved say they should stay open.APTN National News reporter Annette Francis has more.
APTN National NewsWith Christmas just a few days away, here’s something a little warm and fuzzy.With apologies to Santa, here’s a boy named Quinn singing a song that could someday be a First Nation holiday classic.
APTN National NewsNunavut’s senator is Dennis Patterson.He was appointed just after managing Leona Aglukkaq’s first campaign for MP.However, there are now questions of where exactly Patterson lives.His neighbours have never seen him.APTN National News reporter Kent Driscoll has the story.
APTN National NewsThe province says it’s the worst flooding in Alberta’s history with over 20 communities declaring a state of emergency.Several First Nations were some of the hardest hit.APTN‘s Matt Thordarson has this story.
APTN National NewsFor the first time in its history, APTN National News will interview a sitting Prime Minister.On June 3, Justin Trudeau will sit down with APTN National News host Cheryl McKenzie to talk about First Nation, Métis and Inuit issues.Want to ask a question about water? Education? Housing? Pipelines? Treaties? Justice?There are a number of ways to do it.Tweet: use the hashtag #aptntrudeauFacebook: Write out your question.Watch live across the network at 12:30ET.Want to ask your question now? Send us an email.
Willow FiddlerAPTN NewsThe deaths of 12 children in Ontario were the result of systems failing repeatedly to meet the fundamental needs of young people, says a report by an expert panel set up by the chief coroner and obtained by APTN News.The 86-page report which is expected to be made public on Tuesday is a result of a year-long review led by the Ontario’s chief coroner Dirk Huyer.Between January 2014 and July 2017 there were 12 children and youth who died while in residential care or placement of a children’s aid society or an Indigenous well-being society.Eight of those young people were Indigenous including six from Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northwestern Ontario.Eight of the 12 deaths were suicides, one was a homicide, two were accidental and one is listed as unknown.“While no one individual or organization is at fault for these failures, it is important to recognize that it is people that make organizations and systems work – and people that define how they must work,” the report says.Five of the deaths occurred within the first six months of 2017. The chief coroner came up with the seven-member panel, all of whom have expertise in areas of mental health, service systems, residential placements and government administration, not long afterwards.Starting at the beginning of the year, the expert panel met with nine of the 12 families and visited four First Nations affected by the deaths.The report says the panel discovered many of the young people had substantial child protection involvement for most of their lives. They all had mental health challenges and histories of self-harming behaviours and or thoughts of suicide.Yet, they were continually silenced says the report.“The young people had minimal opportunity to have a voice in their care and their attempts to communicate their needs were often overlooked, ignored and characterized as “attention-seeking.””Safe spaces on-reserve for at-risk children and youth and a lack of cultural connection to elders and cultural teachings after being placed outside of their communities were among some of the challenges the panel reported.“In particular, Indigenous child wellbeing societies that serve people in remote First Nations communities have distinct constraints to delivering services that other societies do not; for example, large geographic areas.”Nishnawbe Aski Nation covers two-thirds of the province with 49 First Nations, many accessible by plane only.The panel also found that the young people experienced an average of 12 different placements while in care of children’s aid and Indigenous well-being societies.“Placement selection appeared to be based on what was known to be available, rather than on goodness-of-fit or the young person’s needs.”The report finds that some of those placements were as far as 1,600 km away from the young people’s home communities.“The quality of care was impacted by the capacity, lack of supervision, qualifications, training, and education of staff and caregivers,” the report says about the placements that were reviewed.In some cases, the report said the panel couldn’t determine who was providing services and what type.Problematic for ensuring appropriate provincial oversight of the children’s aid and Indigenous well-being societies responsible for the protection of young people, the panel says.“It was likely that the ministry was equally unable to understand the pathways through the various systems, both at the individual level and in aggregate,” the report says.The report has delivered a number of recommendations.The first one calls on the Government of Ontario and Canada to “immediately provide equitable, culturally and spiritually safe and relevant services to Indigenous young people, families and communities in Ontario.”The other recommendations are directed to the provincial ministries of children, education, health and Indigenous affairs to:* Identify and provide a set of core services and support an integrated system of care for young people and their families across a wholistic continuum to every child in Ontario. Services must include health, mental health and well being, education, recreation, child care, children’s mental health, early intervention services, prevention services and developmental services. Service provision should be geared to the needs and intensity of needs, of each young person and family.* Develop a wholistic approach to the identification of, service planning for and service provision to high-risk young people (with or without child welfare involvement) that supports continuity of care to age 21 years.* Strengthen accountability and opportunities for continuous improvement of the systems of care through measurement, evaluation and public reporting.More to come.wfiddler@aptn.ca@willowblasizzo
WASHINGTON – Americans bought new homes in October at the fastest pace in a decade — a 6.2 per cent monthly increase that reflects both the underlying strength of the economy and the worsening shortage of existing homes for sale.The Commerce Department said Monday that new-home sales last month rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. That marks the third straight monthly gain and the best sales clip since October 2007. Much of the sales growth came from the Northeast and Midwest, with the South and West posting smaller increases.Many buyers are turning to new construction because there is a shrinking supply of existing homes for sale. But new construction has been unable to keep up with demand. Potential buyers are searching for homes amid a healthy job market with a 4.1 per cent unemployment rate and attractive 30-year mortgage rates that are averaging less than 4 per cent.Still, the lack of properties on the market has fueled higher prices, creating affordability pressures.The average sales price of a new home jumped 13.6 per cent over the past 12 months to $400,200.Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities, suggested that some of new homes were sold last month before construction had started — a sign of the inventory squeeze.“It would appear that builders paired up with prospective buyers en masse in October to lock in deals that would allow the buyers to have their homes built to order,” Stanley said.These price increases are a sign that builders are able to charge more money because of the dearth of inventory.The number of sales listings for existing homes has tumbled 10.4 per cent from a year earlier to just 1.8 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s the fewest number of homes on the market for any October since the Realtors began tracking the data in 1999.New construction can only offset some of this supply crunch.There is only 4.9 months’ supply of newly-built homes on the market, the lowest reading since July 2016.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – La Saline slaughterhouse is a nightmarish panorama of animal blood, body parts and detritus. It’s also an essential part of the economy of the Haitian capital, supplying meat to restaurants, street vendors and stores.Associated Press photographer Chery Dieu Nalio spent nearly a month documenting conditions in the market and the lives of more than 100 people who work there. He found a constant struggle to make ends meet in the face of unhygienic conditions, poor regulation and even deadly violence.More than 300,000 goats are butchered every year in La Saline, at the edge of a slum by the same name that forms part of the sprawl of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The market is mostly a dirt yard, with a few huts made of worn sheet metal, wood and cloth. Chunks of raw meat sit on tables for purchase by customers. The remnants of slaughtered animals are dumped in a canal at the entrance of the market, filling the area with a foul stench and causing flooding in the surrounding neighbourhood.Outside the market is the neighbourhood known as La Saline, so violent that market workers and customers frequently have to dive to the ground to avoid stray bullets.Customers, neighbours and even the market’s workers say Haitian authorities have long failed to take any action in to improve conditions there.Butchers are paid $10 for $20 for each goat they slaughter for individuals. They get no money from wholesale customers, but rather keep some parts of the animals to sell to retail buyers.Other workers skin the animals, clean them, transport them and sell them to customers. Etty Felix, 50, and Monise Jironer, 54, remove waste from goats’ intestines, disinfect them in boiling water and sell them to vendors who make bouillon to sell. They receive 16 cents per intestine.Market owner Polynice Amboise, 65, said the market has been repeatedly moved by Haitian administrations, from inside the slum to the seaside and back again.He said that since Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 people and threw the government into crisis, he hasn’t paid taxes for the market and the government has taken no action to improve its conditions.“The authorities don’t come. I bring all my papers to City Hall but they never get back to me,” Amboise said. “I am not happy with the situation of the market. The workers also are not happy.”Youri Chevry, the mayor of Port-au-Prince, said the situation is complicated by a broader problem of lawlessness, but which he claims is improving. A U.N. peacekeeping mission recently left Haiti and the country is re-establishing its own army, a force supposed to be dedicated to maintaining domestic order.“Everyone knows that this zone is a lawless area, a red zone with armed people that create a lot of problems,” Chevry said. “Step by step, peace is returning in the area. Step by step, we will get control of the slaughterhouse.”
OTTAWA – Canada’s finance ministers struck a deal Monday on how they plan to share tax revenues during the cost-heavy startup phase of a legalized marijuana market — but they also kept their options open, just in case lucrative days lie ahead.The new agreement will see the federal government give the provinces and territories a 75 per cent share of federal excise tax revenues from the sale of legalized pot, a portion of which will be meted out to cities and towns to help them defray the cost of making cannabis legal across Canada.Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the two-year deal after a day-long meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts.Ottawa, which intends to legalize recreational cannabis in July, will retain the remaining 25 per cent share to a maximum of $100 million a year, with any balance over and above that limit going to the provinces and territories.Over the first couple of years, ministers predict legalized marijuana will involve significant startup costs, such as the creation of the new pot market itself, beefed up enforcement, public-awareness campaigns and additional health services.Morneau said that in each of the first two years, he expects legalized pot to generate only about $400 million in excise tax revenues. Ministers doubt the funds will be enough to cover their startup costs.But after that, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa suggested there’s potential for the brand new market to generate far more for public coffers.“Going forward, we know that there is demand for cannabis — there’s quite a bit already and the illicit market is rather huge,” Sousa said after Monday’s announcement.“The federal government has estimated around $400 million or so in revenues in the first year or two years — it may grow and it likely will grow substantively.“So, we want to take the appropriate measures now to combat the illicit market, get it out of the system and then go forward… to deal with revenue.”Sousa added that the $100-million cap on the federal share is an important piece of Monday’s agreement because now, “if there is a surge in the marketplace, we can accommodate it more effectively as we grow and respond to that marketplace.”Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments have long insisted that legalization is not about revenues. They say the priority is about protecting kids and taking weed profits out of the black market.Morneau said the decision to provide a larger share to the provinces will allow them to “fairly deal with their costs” and enable them to work with municipalities, which had been asking for at least a one-third portion of the revenue to help ease the local burden of costs like law enforcement.To eliminate the illicit market, the ministers agreed to keep the per-gram price of legal pot at roughly $10, or even lower.“Our expectation is that by keeping prices low, we will be able to get rid of the black market. However, that will happen over time,” Morneau said during the closing news conference, his counterparts lined up behind him.“Of course, we’ll stay very much on top of this.”He said the ministers are scheduled to gather again a year from now to assess how the framework is working.Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said the introduction of safety, prevention and distribution costs will require considerable investments that won’t be covered by his province’s estimated $60-million share of excise tax revenue in each of the next two years.“In the first couple of years, we will not be making money on this,” Leitao said.The original model put forward by the federal government proposed an even 50-50 split, a plan that was immediately shot down by the provinces, many of which wondered aloud what sort of costs Ottawa would be incurring to deserve such a share.Earlier Monday, Sousa said the federal Liberal government had successfully made the case that it, too, would have costs, but was showing flexibility on related revenue and cost-sharing questions.Ottawa’s initial estimates suggested the total pot of tax revenue from marijuana sales could eventually reach $1 billion per year.Morneau said Monday that the federal government has already committed more than $700 million over the coming years towards pot legalization in areas like policing and border security. He added he expects that number to rise.During the meetings, the ministers also discussed the federal government’s proposed tweaks to the formula behind equalization payments, as well as the three-year review of the Canada Pension Plan. They also explored the state of the global economy and heard a presentation from Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz.Talks also took place on a national strategy to improve the sharing of information on corporate ownership between jurisdictions, a measure designed to clamp down on tax avoidance, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing.“We agreed to take concrete steps to make sure that we had knowledge of who owns companies across our country so that we can do a better job at ensuring that we don’t have tax evasion, that we don’t have money laundering, that we don’t have terrorist financing in any part of our country,” Morneau said.Follow @AndyBlatchford on Twitter
BERLIN – Bombardier Transportation (TSX:BBD.B) has signed a deal to supply 333 new rail cars, along with a contract for maintenance work, with a U.K. rail company.Corelink Rail Infrastructure and West Midlands Trains will receive 333 new Bombardier Aventra vehicles for use on the United Kingdom’s West Midlands Trains franchise.The rolling stock and maintenance contracts are worth about $928 million Canadian.Bombardier will produce the electric carriages at its facility in Derby, England, with the new trains expected to be delivered between 2020 and 2022.Bombardier was named the preferred bidder for the contract in October.“Our modern Aventra trains will be built in the Midlands for the Midlands, and will transform the travel experience for passengers on the new West Midlands Trains franchise,” said Richard Hunter, the U.K. managing director for Bombardier Transportation.“This is part of a huge investment happening up and down the country and will make a real difference to passengers,” said Chris Grayling, the U.K. secretary of state for transport.“We are delivering the biggest rail modernization program for over a century. West Midlands passengers will see longer, more frequent trains, faster journeys and a more reliable service for passengers.”Montreal-based Bombardier’s transportation division is headquartered in Berlin.