Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum to close in Atlantic City

Thu, December 1, 2022 



ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Believe it or not, an iconic part of the Atlantic City Boardwalk is closing soon.

The Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum said Thursday that it will close on Dec. 31 after more than 26 years of tempting Boardwalk strollers with oddities including shrunken heads, mutant animals and models of unbelievably tall or small humans.

The building that houses the museum is an instantly recognizable feature of the Boardwalk. It is designed with a giant globe that appears to have smashed into the front of the building and wedged part of the way inside it, cracking the foundation from top to bottom. (The actual foundation of the building remains intact.)

“We’re grateful for the support of our fans and guests, whose curiosity, open-mindedness, and enthusiasm have contributed to our success for over 26 years,” Chris Connelly, the museum's manager, said in a statement. “We’re thankful to have offered a unique form of entertainment and education at the Jersey Shore, and we hope we have helped create wonderful memories for those who have come to visit.”

Connelly said the museum is closing because its local franchisee is reaching the end of its agreement with Ripley's.

“They're going to reimagine the space and come up with something new and fresh for the future,” he said.

The future of the famous facade is uncertain, although it is possible it may be incorporated into a future use, Connelly said.

The museum opened on the Boardwalk at New York Avenue on June 22, 1996 between the Bally's and Resorts casinos.

It became popular with families looking for non-gambling entertainment, gamblers taking a break from the action, and curious passersby.

It has 14 themed galleries and over 400 exhibits. They include a spider made out of scissors and knives, a roulette table made of 14,000 jelly beans, and what it describes as the world's smallest production car.

Ripley's also debunked several carnival-show oddities, including what purported to be the skeleton of a mermaid, but which was actually a monkey skull sewn to a fish tail.

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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press

White sturgeon-Columbia River’s largest anadromous fish


Thu, December 1, 2022 
Wild Files: It’s our Nature
By Chadd Cawson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Sturgeon have been around for over 200 million years, working their way through the waters while dinosaurs roamed the earth. Like salmon they are an anadromous fish with 27 species worldwide and are the primary source for the delicacy caviar. White sturgeon are the largest anadromous fish in Canada and are only found in B.C. They can be easily identified from the dual rows of four to eight ganoid bony plates and despite their name are often a grey or brownish shade on their dorsal side. They have barbels which are located near the snout anterior to their mouths.

Seen swimming in many of our Columbia Valley waterways such as our upper Columbia River, and some of it’s tributaries like Arrow, Slocan, and Kootenay lake to name a few. White sturgeon is native to the Pacific coast which is why they are only found throughout B.C. but unlike their swimming buddies, Pacific salmon white sturgeon do not die upon spawning and often live to be over years 100 old.

When it comes to their own diet they feed on shellfish, crustaceans, small fish like herring and shad, insects, and gastropods but aside from humans can also make a tasty dinner for sharks, sea lions and other marine mammals. In the sturgeon world males mature faster sexually than females and are ready to spawn between the age of 12 and 18 years old. For female white sturgeon they don’t reach their full maturity to spawn until they reach between 25 and 30 years old.

Female sturgeon has many suitors and will have their eggs fertilized by many males during spawning season which happens between May and July. When a female releases her eggs, they develop an adhesive coat and are negatively buoyant upon contact with water. Dependent on the water’s temperature hatching of these eggs can take anywhere from three to 13 days. After the egg incubates, they go through the larvae and fry stage before becoming a juvenile sturgeon which at that time can become more independent with it swimming and feeding. This their last stage before maturing into full adults, when first becoming juveniles, they are typically only 10 cm long.

Quite a catch

White sturgeon have a reputation for being a challenge to catch. They can reach lengths of up to 610 cm with an average mass weighing over 500 kg. White sturgeon are considered quite rare with data showing they have seen quite a population decline over the last 30 years. Schools, or groups of white sturgeon are made up of seniors these days rounding the age of a century as they navigate the waters, one could say they are old school. When one does reel one of these remarkable ancient beauties in on the Columbia River it is intended to be recreational with an expectation to catch and release. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has assessed White Sturgeon in B.C. as threatened with declines particularly in both the Fraser and Columbia River.




Fish tales

All fish are vital to Indigenous people for their survival and sustainability. While sturgeon may not be considered as sacred as salmon, they still certainly hold their place. In some cultures, and folklore, the Sturgeon Moon is connected to how abundant sturgeon once were, and easy to catch come the end of summer. Because of the sheer size of sturgeon, a single catch would feed many. On record the largest white sturgeon ever caught dates to the 1800’s and weighed just over 680 kg, and needed the aid of horses to reel it in.

Chadd Cawson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Columbia Valley Pioneer

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Thorns to be sold amid fallout from women's soccer scandals


Thu, December 1, 2022


The owner of the Portland Thorns announced Thursday he is putting the club up for sale, the latest fallout from an investigation into misconduct in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Merritt Paulson’s decision comes nearly two months after a pair of team executives were dismissed for their roles in systemic abuse and misconduct within the NWSL.

Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates and the law firm of King & Spaulding released results in early October of an investigation that detailed the series of abuses and misconduct that impacted multiple teams in the league, including the Thorns. U.S. Soccer retained Yates when a series of scandals rocked the league last year.

Paulson had relinquished his decision-making role with the team in October. But calls had persisted for him to sell the Thorns.

“The past year has been a challenging one for our club and our players. I regret the role our organization played in the failures identified by the investigations. Despite these challenges, the Portland Thorns have a bright future ahead and a lot left to accomplish,” Paulson said. “To fully realize that potential, I believe it is in best interest of the Thorns to have a new owner so that the club can operate at the league level with a fresh voice to be a driving force for the NWSL. This has been a difficult decision for me, but I believe this is the best way to position the Thorns for continued success during this next chapter of the NWSL and the sport.”

The team doesn't have a timeline for finding a buyer. A goal is to find an owner that will keep the team rooted in the Portland community.

Paulson has owned the Thorns since the creation of the NWSL in 2013. The club has won three NWSL titles, including this year’s championship when it beat the Kansas City Current in the final.

But the allegations of misconduct and the investigation by Yates have dogged the franchise for more than a year. The investigation was launched after two former players came forward with allegations of harassment and sexual coercion dating back a decade against former North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley.

Riley, who was fired, denied the allegations. He was one of five coaches in the league who were dismissed or stepped down last year amid claims of misconduct.

The Yates report detailed how the Thorns mishandled complaints about Riley when he coached the team in 2014-15. In the wake of the report, the Thorns fired executives Gavin Wilkinson and Mike Golub.

But some fans continued to call on Paulson to relinquish ownership. During the Thorns’ NWSL victory in the final at Audi Field, some fans held a sign that read: “Support The Players.”

Those fans are getting their wish, although Paulson said the decision to sell the Thorns does not affect his ownership of his MLS franchise, the Portland Timbers. Paulson’s ownership group — Peregrine Sports LLC — also operates Providence Park, the home field for both teams.

Paulson said he will work “to ensure a smooth transition and the continued success of the Thorns, including providing favorable usage terms for Providence Park.” Another lingering issue is development of a training facility for the Thorns, who have typically practiced at the stadium.

“We are committed to continue to work collaboratively with the NWSL to ensure we find the right group to take the reins. We will not rush to a decision as we want to get it right for our players, for Portland and for women’s soccer,” Paulson said.

Additionally, Paulson is contributing $1 million toward the establishment of an office within the NWSL focused on player safety.

“I support Merritt Paulson’s decision to sell the Thorns, his commitment to aid in a smooth transition for a new ownership group in Portland, and the $1 (million) contribution to the league,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement. “This money will be used to launch a new NWSL Player Safety Department — coming out of this chapter in the NWSL’s history we will emerge stronger than ever before and make this a league the players are proud to play in.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tim Booth, The Associated Press

Calgary food bank creator pleads for donations as demand soars

Thu, December 1, 2022 

Syed Najam stands beside one of his association's eight food banks in the city. He says he’s seeing more demand than ever in the run up to Christmas this year. 

(Dan McGarvey/CBC - image credit)

The grassroots organization behind eight self-serve outdoor food banks around Calgary says demand is soaring as more people need help putting food on the table.

Love With Humanity Association started with one food bank on the front lawn of its founder in the northeast community of Saddle Ridge, alongside a small library and clothing donation box.

It now runs eight food banks at locations around the city and says it needs to increase food donations to match the demand.

"Compared to the last year, there's been a 40 per cent increase, and more than 1,000 people are using this one," said Syed Najam, outside his home on Saddlelake Way N.E.

Najam says his food banks are open 24/7 and don't require registration to use them.

They work on a "take what you need, leave what you can" basis.

Najam and his small team builds and paints the glass-fronted wooden boxes — similar to little free libraries — and installs them outside homes and community centres.

Dan McGarvey/CBC

"Christmas is around the corner, and this month is very important to help out our Calgarians," said Najam.

"All the food banks face the same situation. This year is very tough compared to last year. Prices are higher, electric bills are higher, housing, everything is going up," said Najam.

He says the city is also seeing lots of new immigrants and refugees in need, as well as people coming to the city from other provinces.

He says his organization needs more non-perishable food items. They can be dropped off at his food bank location at Saddlelake Way N.E.

Love with Humanity Association runs outdoor food banks at the following locations:

631 Whitewood Rd. N.E.


1216 Ranchview Rd. N.W.


1300 41st St. S.E.


360 Falshire Dr. N.E.


7107 Elbow Dr. S.W.


1839 9th Ave. S.E.


4521 Montgomery Ave. N.W.

PEI

Need for Christmas hampers could be up 50% this year, says food bank

Thu, December 1, 2022 

It's not easy to ask for help, says Mike MacDonald, executive director of the Upper Room Food Bank, and staff do their best to make people feel comfortable. (Steve Bruce/CBC - image credit)

CBC P.E.I.'s annual Feed a Family campaign is underway, and with inflation bearing down on Islanders Charlottetown's Upper Room Food Bank expects the need to be higher than ever.

"It's important every year, and this year, I guess, it's that much more important. We're seeing increases in food bank usage up to 40 per cent, month over month," said food bank executive director Mike MacDonald.

"We're seeing 60, 70, 80 new families every month looking for help."

That increase in need is just for Charlottetown. MacDonald expects food banks across the province have been seeing similar increases. MacDonald estimates there will be a need for more than 3,000 hampers this year. In recent years the need has been for about 2,200.

Heidi Atter/CBC

It's a discouraging trend.

Food drives created as stop gap measures that expected to run for a year or two have become long-standing annual events. They have been joined by new initiatives such as community fridges.

"Food banks as well, when they were first created it was, you know, we'd be out of business in a decade," said MacDonald.

"Unfortunately, we're busier than we've ever been."

It's not easy for first-time visitors to the food bank, said MacDonald.

"Nobody wants to be in the position or admit that they're in the position," he said.

"These people that are coming in first time probably should have been in to see us four, five, six months ago, and now they're in a real dire situation."

Registration to receive a food hamper this Christmas is open.

Island Morning on the road

Drop off locations for turkeys or other food donations are open at 18 locations across P.E.I.

You can see the full list of locations on the Feed a Family page, or click on the link to make an online cash donation.

Donations will be accepted until midnight, Dec. 31.

Island Morning will be going on the road during the campaign, sharing stories of food insecurity in different communities and talking to the people supporting others in those communities.

Receiver Coffee has also signed on again to help, selling bags of Island Morning Brew coffee, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Feed a Family campaign.

VW confirms looking in Canada to build first North America cell plant

Jan Schwartz
Thu, December 1, 2022 

A Volkswagen logo

BERLIN (Reuters) -Volkswagen has begun searching for a site for the German carmaker's first battery cell factory in North America, its CEO announced on Thursday.

Confirming an earlier Reuters story, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume and Canadian industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne signed an addendum to their existing memorandum of understanding from August, agreeing to identify suitable sites for the planned cell plant.

Blume said that battery technology was key for the company's strategy and that it was committed to investing in North America.

"Canada is one logical option for the construction of a gigafactory in the region of North America,” he said, adding it offered ideal economic conditions and high sustainability standards.

Such a plant would be Volkswagen's first gigafactory outside Europe.

Volkswagen's battery subsidiary Powerco also announced it was extending a deal to cooperate with Belgium's Umicore on shipping cathode material to Canada.

The German auto giant said it was a long-term strategic partnership geared toward future cell production in North America.

In the August memorandum of understanding, Volkswagen and mineral-rich Canada agreed to intensify efforts to secure access to lithium, nickel and cobalt.

In September, Volkswagen and Umicore announced a $2.9 billion battery parts joint venture to supply PowerCo's European battery cell factories with key materials from 2025 onwards.

Europe's carmakers have pushed to secure stakes in battery production on the continent, but the industry there is still in its infancy.

The United States is also trying to attract investments in green technology such as electric-powered vehicles and battery production with its Inflation Reduction Act.

The European Union has taken issue with the $430 billion package, which makes tax breaks conditional on U.S-manufactured content, due to concerns of unfair competition.

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Rachel More and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Miranda Murray and Lisa Shumaker)

Poland says Kandinsky art sold in Germany comes from theft


Thu, December 1, 2022

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s culture authorities said Thursday a painting by Wassily Kandinsky that was auctioned in Germany for almost 390,000 euros ($404,000) belongs to Poland, where it was stolen in 1984.

The authorities are threatening legal steps.

Kandinsky’s 1928 watercolor “Untitled” was sold Thursday at the Grisebach auctioneers in Berlin. The price tag included the auction fee.

Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the Polish Embassy in Berlin, said they had notified the auction house that the artwork was stolen from an exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw. They said they had protested putting it up for the auction.

“The German auction house has acted like a receiver of stolen goods,” Poland’s culture minister, Piotr Glinski, said on Twitter.

The abstract composition on cardboard bears the Polish museum’s stamp on the reverse. The online auction catalogue says it was Kandinsky's birthday present to Otto Ralfs and was in Braunschweig until around 1940. It was at the National Museum around 1965-1983, according to the catalogue, and then was in a private art collection in the U.S. In 1988 it was acquired by a private person from Galerie Thomas in Munich.

Kandinsky, who lived 1866-1944, was a Russian painter who is credited with being among the pioneers of abstract art. In 1896-1914, he lived and studied in Munich.

Poland is also actively seeking artwork that was looted by the Nazi German troops when they occupied Poland during World War II.

During the auction at Grisebach on Thursday, Germany’s record price for an art piece appears to have been paid. A self-portrait by German expressionist artist Max Beckmann painted during World War II sold for 20 million euros ($20.7 million) before fee.

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This story has been corrected to show that the Kandinsky painting was in Warsaw’s museum around 1965-1983.

The Associated Press

NLD

Keith Sullivan stepping down as FFAW president


Thu, December 1, 2022 

Keith Sullivan has been president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union since 2014.

 (Submitted by Keith Sullivan - image credit)

The long-time president of the fisheries union in Newfoundland and Labrador is stepping down.

Keith Sullivan has been head of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers since 2014, and on the front lines of major labour and pricing disputes along the way.

"I'm proud of the difference this organization has made for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. The N.L. commercial fishery is now valued at over $1 billion each year. This value is due in no small part to the collective action of fish harvesters, who stood in solidarity for a fair fishery and a better life 51 years ago, and those who have continued to do it every year and every day since," Sullivan said in a news release sent Thursday morning.

"Thank you to the members who fight to make their workplaces and their communities better. We have tremendous leadership throughout our province and talented, dedicated staff who will ensure the FFAW continues to grow and be a strong voice for workers and our coastal communities."

The union said Sullivan has "no immediate employment plans."

Since the vacancy is happening between an election period, one will be held among the FFAW's joint council to elect a new president.

Sullivan will complete a one-month transition period before he leaves his seat.

The nomination period will open on Dec. 15 and close on Dec. 29. The joint council meeting election is slated for Jan. 5, according to the union.

The next general election is in 2024. If the position is contested, a full membership election will take place.

Nunavut Housing Corporation, other landlords getting in the way of Starlink access

Thu, December 1, 2022

Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, as seen from a plane in April. Jonah McCavour, who lives in Nunavut government staff housing in Rankin Inlet, said internet in the community is 'absolutely atrocious,' and that Starlink is a 'life-changing service for us in Nunavut.' (Liny Lamberink/CBC - image credit)

When Starlink's high-speed internet arrived in Nunavut people across the territory rejoiced, but some renters are now realizing the territory's largest landlords are obstructing access to the long-awaited service.

The Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) manages more than 1,700 government staff housing units and nearly 5,700 public housing units. Northview is a major residential landlord in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Neither landlord will let tenants install Starlink satellite dishes without permission, and neither has a policy yet for those dishes.

EPLS Group of Companies owns several properties in Rankin Inlet and Arviat in Nunavut and it's not allowing tenants to put up Starlink dishes right now.

Starlink is the low-Earth orbit satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk's spacecraft and rocket launch company, SpaceX.

David Gunn/CBC

It promises users in remote communities faster speeds and a terabyte of data for $140 CAD a month, plus $759 for the 30-by-51-centimetre dish, which users can install themselves.

Last month, Starlink announced it had expanded coverage to all of the three territories and Alaska.

In the North, where the internet can be notoriously slow and inconsistent, IT experts predict that Starlink and other low-Earth orbit internet providers will become increasingly popular.

High-speed internet a 'human right,' says NHC tenant

Jonah McCavour, who lives in Nunavut government staff housing in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, said internet in the community is "absolutely atrocious." It's slow and suffers from frequent outages.

McCavour called Starlink a "life-changing service for us in Nunavut," which will make it much easier for residents to run online businesses, do school online, and videoconference with healthcare providers in Iqaluit or the South.

"Access to high-speed internet in 2022 is absolutely a fundamental human right," he said.

Aniekan Etuhube/CBC News

It's also why he was so frustrated when his hopes of switching to Starlink were quashed.

His building's owner, EPLS, denied McCavour's request to put up a Starlink satellite dish, citing the provision of his lease agreement with NHC that states the tenant not make any "alterations or additions" to the premises.

Chief operating officer Derrick Webster confirmed that EPLS isn't letting tenants in its buildings install Starlink dishes yet.

Allowing one tenant to put up a dish opens the door to all tenants, and "allowing tenants to install their own equipment all over your building is very damaging to the envelope and creates a lot of other issues," he said.

Webster said it's EPLS's goal to allow tenants to use Starlink, but EPLS doesn't know yet whether, for example, a building could get one or two Starlink dishes and provide that internet to several units.

Plus, he said, internet isn't part of EPLS's agreement with NHC.

"Technically my tenant is NHC, not the people that live in the buildings, so [NHC] really have to be involved," he said.

"If they want this service, it's definitely possible to get it here, but the question is exactly how do we get it in, and then how is it paid for?"

Self-installation could cause damage to building, says NHC

Eric Doiron, director of policy and strategic planning with NHC, said the housing corporation denied McCavour's request to install a Starlink dish because he lives in an EPLS building.

Like McCavour's lease with NHC, the housing corporation's lease with EPLS doesn't allow the tenant to make "alterations or additions to the premises."

"The tenant cannot just simply start drilling holes in the walls or the roof of a building to put [up] telecommunication hardware wiring," said Doiron.

"It could result in damage to the building envelope or it could result in, for example, leaks, or it could cause a severe fire inside the building structure."

NHC said that Starlink dishes aren't allowed on NHC-owned buildings right now because the housing corporation doesn't yet have a policy for them.

It said it wants to set out guidelines so Starlink requests are handled evenly across the territory, but it didn't have a date for when those guidelines might be ready.

Doiron said he doesn't know how many NHC tenants had asked about installing Starlink.

He did say that NHC will begin talking internally, and to property owners, about how to handle such requests, though there's no timeline for those discussions yet.

Derek McDonald, programs officer with NHC in the Kivalliq region, works with public housing tenants.

He said tenants can attach a Starlink dish to their unit if they get permission first, and they'll get permission if the dish is professionally installed.

McDonald said his office hasn't had any requests related to Starlink yet, which he attributes to the high price of the dish and of hiring a professional to put it up.

Northview owns seven residential buildings in Iqaluit, and dozens more in Inuvik, N.W.T., and Yellowknife.

In an emailed statement, vice president of operations Linay Freda said Northview is "aware of the growing interest in Starlink in the North," but that tenants aren't allowed to install telecommunications equipment to Northview property without the landlord's consent.

"Issues with respect to the safety of the installations required for Starlink and other safety and building integrity issues, such as the potential risk of interference with building wiring systems need to be considered before a policy can be determined," she said.

German parliament votes to approve EU-Canada trade pact

Thu, December 1, 2022 

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Thursday approved a free-trade deal between the European Union and Canada, moving the accord a step closer to taking full effect.

The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, was signed in late 2016. Most of its terms have been implemented provisionally since 2017, but the parliaments of the EU's 27 member nations must ratify the deal for -it to come fully into force.

Chancellor OIaf Scholz's three-party coalition moved forward with ratifying it after Germany's highest court in March rejected complaints against CETA, at least in the form in which it is currently in effect.

Lawmakers voted 559-110 to approve the pact.

Another 11 EU countries have yet to ratify the deal, Verena Hubertz, a lawmaker with Scholz's center-left Social Democrats, told parliament's lower house before the vote.

“We are optimistic, now that we are moving forward, that others will also follow very quickly," she said. “But of course ... this is much too long and much too slow in a globalized world that turns quickly.”

Hubertz said Germany had to wait for the court verdict and added that “we have eliminated concerns” about details of a dispute mechanism built into the pact. Conservative opposition lawmakers argued that little or nothing has actually changed and charged that the center-left had held up ratification for ideological reasons.

The deal eliminates almost all customs duties and increases quotas for certain key products in Canada and the EU's respective markets. The EU has said the agreement will save its companies some 600 million euros ($623 million) a year in duties.

The Associated Press

Spain pledges 350M euros to save Doñana wetlands

Thu, December 1, 2022


BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain's government pledged to invest 350 million euros ($368 million) in the country's Doñana wetlands, a UNESCO world heritage site that ecologists say is dying due to the misuse of water and climate change.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the pledge Thursday during a visit to the Doñana National Park in southern Spain.

A European Union court ruled last year that Spanish authorities had failed in their duty to protect the wetlands, and the government faces a hefty fine unless takes actions to preserve the ecosystem.

Sitting on an estuary where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the wetlands cover 74,000 hectares (182,000 acres). They are a wintering site for a half-million waterfowl and a stopover spot for millions of other birds that migrate from Africa to northern Europe.

But the national park’s lagoons and marshes have dried up under a prolonged drought and decades of agriculture and a nearby beach town draining the aquifer underlying the area. The area surrounding the park is plagued by hundreds of unauthorized wells that illegally pump out water to feed crops, mostly red berries that are exported across Europe.

The Spanish government said the 350 million euros would go toward recovering “this emblematic space and reverting the situation of environmental degradation.”

Measures to save the park will include “the reduction of extractions from underground water sources and the recovery of surface water,” the government said in a statement.

The World Wildlife Fund applauded the action by central authorities but demanded that regional authorities do more to control the illegal extraction of water.

“We consider this a great step,” the conservation organization said. “(But) we believe that the priority is to close down all the farms using illegal irrigation in the area around Doñana.”

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Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press