Trump could be fined $12 million after an Illinois judge ruled his Chicago hotel violated an environmental protection law for 3 years

© KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

 A man walks by Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Illinois, on March 21, 2020.

Trump's Chicago hotel is violating environmental protection laws, an Illinois judge ruled.

The ruling stems from a 2018 lawsuit against the former president's hotel, The Washington Post reported.

The hotel is improperly using water from the Chicago River to cool the building, the judge decided. 

Former President Donald Trump's Chicago hotel is improperly using water from the Chicago River to cool the building in violation of environmental protection regulations, a judge in Illinois ruled this week.

The ruling stems from a 2018 lawsuit against the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, The Washington Post reported. The Illinois attorney general had argued that Trump's property used 19 million gallons of water each day from the Chicago River to cool the property and returned the water to the river at a warmer temperature.

The hotel had initially secured a permit that allowed it to cool the building in this way, but the permit expired in 2017 and was not renewed, according to the report, sparking more than three years of violations.

The Trump Organization, which owns and operates the Chicago hotel, did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Sophia Hall, who decided the case, said a penalty would be decided at a future date.

According to the Washington Post, the office of the Illinois Attorney General had asked that the judge impose the maximum possible fines: $50,000 for two violations plus an additional $10,000 per day for each day the hotel continued to cool the building using water from the river.

With violations occurring since 2017, the former president's hotel chain could be ordered to pay as much as $12 million in fines, The Chicago Tribune reported. It added, however, that fines that high were ultimately unlikely.

The lawsuit had first been filed by former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, but a spokesperson for current Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, in office since 2019, told The Washington Post he was happy with the judge's ruling, adding he planned to "continue to seek to hold the defendants accountable for violations of Illinois' environmental laws that jeopardized the quality of the Chicago River."

The ruling in Chicago is just one in a series of legal battles that the former president faces now that he is out of office.

The Far-Right Militia Member Providing Muscle for Top Trump Allies and Aides


When Oath Keeper Rob Minuta provided security for Roger Stone on the day of the Capitol riot, it wasn’t his first time providing muscle for a top Trump aide. Imagery obtained by The Daily Beast shows Minuta marched alongside former Trump National Security Adviser Mike Flynn when he attended a similar march in Washington, D.C. in December which sought to overturn the 2020 election.

© Provided by The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Tasos Katopodis/Getty

His appearance in similar roles for Flynn and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at pro-Trump rallies after the election highlights the troubling network of connections between members of the far-right militia and some of Trump’s closest advisers and supporters.

ABC News first reported that Minuta was one of the Oath Keepers seen providing security for Roger Stone on the day of the riot. Minuta’s wife told the news outlet her husband didn’t enter the Capitol and he hasn’t been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing.

Much like the Jan. 6 rally that turned into a riot, the Dec. 12 rally drew a host of Trump supporters—including members of the extremist Oath Keepers militia and the white nationalist Proud Boys—after the pro-Trump group Women for America First organized a rally to support Trump’s attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.

Flynn was among the many top tier Trump supporters who attended and spoke at the Dec. 12 events, where he gave speeches on the Mall and in front of the Supreme Court.

That evening, the rally descended into a bloody brawl as members of the Proud Boys clashed with counter-protesters. Washington, D.C. police reported four stabbings as a result of the clashes and charged Proud Boys founder Enrique Tarrio with destruction of property and felony firearms possession after he was seen allegedly vandalizing a historic Black church by tearing down and burning its Black Lives Matter banner.

Minuta, clad in black and wearing an Oath Keepers New Jersey hat, is visible escorting Flynn earlier in the day in an apparent security cordon seen in imagery taken as the former national security adviser walked towards the Supreme Court. In one video, Minuta is visible alongside other apparent members of the cordon pushing bystanders out of Flynn’s way as he heads up the steps of the court.

Citizen Lab researcher John Scott Railton and a Discord group of volunteers known as the “Capitol Terrorists Exposers” first identified Minuta in imagery escorting Flynn.

“This case is yet another illustration of the troubling tendrils connecting organized groups, such as the Oath Keepers, to this event and a reminder of the role of volunteers in identifying what may be key people in this story,” Railton told The Daily Beast.

Flynn did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

Minuta appears to have performed a similar escort role for InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at a Nov. 14 “Million MAGA March” Trump rally in Washington. In photos taken by UPI and Getty, Minuta is visible as part of an escort for Jones alongside reported members of the Proud Boys as he heads towards the Supreme Court.

© Provided by The Daily Beast Proud Boys and supporters escort Alex Jones away from the Supreme Court after Jones spoke to the "Million MAGA March" protesters in Washington on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty

A week before the Nov. 14 rally, an account in Minuta’s name posted in the RocketChat Forum, a website reportedly used by Oath Keepers which leaked to the left-wing UnicornRiot media collective.

“Fellow patriots, take this period of uncertainty to make sure provisions and gear is set up properly!,” the account wrote. “We must be ready to be in the streets in a controlled manor (Virginia 2A rally style). We must OVERTAKE the streets in massive numbers.”

Minuta identified himself as a Jones fan in a January 2020 interview, where he told the Virginia Mercury that he had attended a Virginia gun rights demonstration during the state’s Lobby Day after he heard about it on Jones’ show.

Minuta did not respond to email and text messages from The Daily Beast.

Minuta is visible in another photograph taken that evening standing next to an infamous Proud Boy, Dominic “Spazzo” Pezzola, the alleged rioter charged with smashing a Capitol window on Jan. 6 and allegedly telling a confidential witness that he “would have killed [Vice President] Mike Pence if given the chance.”

In a post on the now-defunct right-wing social media site Parler, one account in the name of Minuta’s father’s company posted a link to a photograph of Minuta standing behind “Spazzo.”

“THAT IS MY SON ROB STANDING FOR WHAT IS RIGHT,” the account posted next to a picture taken by Washingtonian photographer Evy Mages. “SPAZZOLINI IS THE MARINE IN FRONT AN ICONIC MARINE.”

Minuta’s father did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

The Oath Keepers have drawn increased scrutiny from federal law enforcement after members of the group were charged with participating in the riot. Prosecutors have charged three Oath Keepers—Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Marie Watkins, and Donovan Crowl—with conspiracy to obstruct Congress. So far, prosecutors have only used conspiracy charges against alleged rioters who were members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and the government is reportedly considering whether to use a Nixon-era anti-mafia law to charge some rioters.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was present at the rally in Washington on Jan. 6 but was not seen inside the Capitol and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Minuta’s relationship with the extremist Oath Keepers militia dates back at least to May 2020, when Rhodes supported an anti-lockdown protest at Minuta’s tattoo shop, Casa Di Dolore.

Minuta opened his tattoo shop in May in defiance of New York state public health regulations in what he called “a display of defiance against a tyrannical dictator,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to an interview with the Mid Hudson News. In an interview in 2019, Minuta identified himself as an anti-vaxxer and told a local news outlet that he and his wife began looking at houses in New Jersey after New York passed a mandatory vaccination law for children.

Rhodes traveled from Texas to Newburgh, New York along with other members of the Oath Keepers to participate in the protest.

“I asked to be his first customer, and I’m going to get ‘We the people” tattooed on my arm,” Rhodes told the Times Herald-Record.

In a video posted to the Oath Keepers YouTube channel at the time, Minuta, again dressed in Oath Keepers garb, tattoos “We the people” on Rhodes’ arm using the iconic scrawl seen in the original Constitution.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Bob Joseph: Why the Indian Act must go and Canada will be better for it

Last week in a virtual Q & A session, Indigenous author Bob Joseph was asked “How will people know that they’ve achieved reconciliation?”

Joseph answered, “When people are at peace with the past.”

The first step is moving away from the Indian Act, according to Joseph, who advocates for First Nations heading towards self-governance, self-reliance and self-determination.

The bestselling author of ‘21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act’ has been enabling discourse about the act, since his 2015 blog post about the legislation went viral. In Canada, many people are still oblivious to the Indian Act, says Joseph.

READ ALSO: ‘We’re still in it’: Wet’suwet’en push forward on rights recognition

Since it was first passed in 1876, the Indian Act has undergone numerous amendments but it still stands as law, governing matters pertaining to Indian status, bands and reserves, among other things.

The legislation – originally created to ‘assimilate’ Indigenous people into mainstream Canadian life and values – is a paradox in which both the rights of Indigenous people and their bondage co-exist.

And while some Indigenous groups have called for its dismissal due to what have been called its regressive and paternalistic excesses, others have resisted its abolition.

Joseph is a member of the Gwawa’enuxw Nation, Gayaxala (Thunderbird) clan, who grew up in Campbell River. He believes the Indian Act must go, simply because it was unsuccessful (and now outdated) in its original purpose of assimilating Indigenous people into the political and economic mainstream.

“If anything, it (the Indian Act) has kept Indigenous people separate under different laws and under different lands,” he said.

In a virtual seminar last week hosted by the Vancouver Island Regional Library, Joseph interacted with more than 500 viewers. He provided insights into the legislation’s history before discussing modern day solutions that could replace the Indian Act.

Through 21 points Joseph not only highlighted the obsolete nature of the legislation but also why it is relevant to understanding reconciliation going forward – especially at a time when Canada is undertaking a commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Before some of its amendments, the Indian Act denied Indigenous status to women, introduced residential schools, created reserves, renamed individuals with European names, restricted First Nations from leaving reserves without permission from Indian Agents, expropriated portions of reserves for roads, railways, etc, imposed the ‘band council’ system and created other personal and cultural tragedies on First Nations.

Despite that, it was legally significant for Indigenous peoples. For example, in 1969 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s white paper policies proposed to abolish it, Aboriginal leaders across Canada opposed the move. Since the Indian Act affirms the historical and constitutional relationship Aboriginal peoples have with Canada, they wanted it to legally maintain the Indian status and the rights that it afforded them.

This paradox, Joseph pointed out, has created a relationship wherein Indigenous people are dependent on the federal government. Even today, these concerns remain when discussions about breaking away from the Indian Act comes up.

“I hear people tell me ‘we need to make sure we protect our status’” He reminds them that thought is “in fact an objective of the Indian Act” which keeps them tied to it. The Indian act will never help them grow their nation and their people – “it’s not designed to do that.” That is why First Nations must find a better way, break the cycle of dependency and give way to self determination, self reliance, and self governance.

“A place to look for solutions already exists,” he says, pointing to modern day treaties in B.C. like the Nisga’a Treaty and the Westbank First Nation Self-government Agreement from the early 2000’s.

“The Nisga’a Treaty got rid of the Indian Act, they were able to get control and jurisdiction over lands and resources and the ability to make decisions about those lands and resources.”

But he also said that these treaties are not necessarily a one-size-fits-all framework that will work for all Nations. Each group must arrive at a model that works best for them through negotiations.

This is where knowledge of history comes in handy – for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people – as a powerful medium to achieve true reconciliation.

As people become aware about the history of Indigenous people in Canada through the ages, there is a wider scope of conversation that can be had in families, educational institutions, places of worship etc.

He urges people to learn about history and then make a personal pledge to reconciliation – which is going to take “political will, knowledge and understanding and empathy.”

“Reconciliation has to be a grassroots movement and not by politicians,” he says.

Because when it comes to something as important as reconciliation, politics “holds back” the process of moving away from the Indian Act as “politicians are all over the place,” with government agendas changing every four years.

“I would rather hang my hat on individuals in Canada to do reconciliation. That seems to have a lot more longevity.”

When political agendas come into the picture, conversations pivot to the “cost of change,” that First Nations are asking for.

To drive home the point, Joseph gives an example from the early ’90s when he had a conversation with a group of people who were worried after a front-page article in the Vancouver Sun stating Indian land claims could cost taxpayers $10 billion.

“I told them this was a great article. It talks to you about the cost of change, but it doesn’t talk to you about the cost of not changing it,” he said and added, cost of years-long legal battles, loss of direct investments and jobs etc, ultimately end up costing governments more than the estimated cost of change.

“So I try to tell taxpayers, look, if it’s money you’re worried about, if that’s what makes your world go round. I can tell you honestly, it will be cheaper to resolve land claims quicker than it is to let them fester.”

Such issues resurface at different intervals of history, he warns, referring to the ongoing Wet’suwet’an pipeline conflict in B.C. and it’s all because there’s no relationship with Indigenous people.

“We’re not listening to their concerns.”

Which is why in retrospect, Joseph says it would be cheaper to move away from the Indian Act and have mutually beneficial relationships.

“It will be better for the country.”

Binny Paul, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Campbell River Mirror

RIP 

Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks

dies at 67

“It was one of the most unbelievable things when Ali agreed to fight him because you look at the fights he had up to then and he was not only not a top contender but shouldn’t have been a contender at all,’’ 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

LAS VEGAS — Leon Spinks, who won Olympic gold and then shocked the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight, has died. He was 67.

Spinks, who lived his later years in Las Vegas, died Friday night, according to a release from a public relations firm. He had been battling prostate and other cancers.

His wife, Brenda Glur Spinks, and a few close friends and other family members were by his side when he passed away.

A lovable heavyweight with a drinking problem, Spinks beat Ali by decision in a 15-round fight in 1978 to win the title. He was unranked at the time, and picked as an opponent because Ali was looking for an easy fight.

He got anything but that, with an unorthodox Spinks swarming over Ali throughout the fight on his way to a stunning win by split decision. The two met seven months later at the Superdome in New Orleans, with Ali taking the decision this time before a record indoor boxing crowd of 72,000 and a national television audience estimated at 90 million people.

“It was one of the most unbelievable things when Ali agreed to fight him because you look at the fights he had up to then and he was not only not a top contender but shouldn’t have been a contender at all,’’ promoter Bob Arum said Saturday. ”He was just an opponent but somehow he found a way to win that fight."

Spinks would lose the rematch to Ali in New Orleans and fought for the title only once after that, when he was stopped in the third round in 1981 by Larry Holmes. He continued fighting on and off into the mid-1990s, finishing with a record of 26-17-3.

Spinks, with a big grin that often showed off his missing front teeth, was popular among boxing fans for both his win over Ali and his easygoing personality. But he burned through his earnings quickly, and at one point after retiring was working as a custodian at a YMCA in Nebraska, cleaning locker rooms.

He later was part of a group of ex-fighters who had their brains studied by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Spinks was found to have brain damage caused by a combination of taking punches to the head and heavy drinking, though he functioned well enough to do autograph sessions and other events late in his life.

“He was a good soul,” said Gene Kilroy, who was Ali’s business manager when he fought Spinks and became friends with the fighter.

Spinks won the light heavyweight division at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, beating Sixto Soria of Cuba in an upset to become one of five U.S. fighters to win gold. His brother, Michael, who would later become heavyweight champion himself, won the middleweight gold, and Sugar Ray Leonard took the welterweight title.

Spinks was hardly spectacular after turning pro, winning six of his first seven fights. Just four months before he met Ali, he could manage just a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux and he wasn’t on anyone’s radar in the heavyweight title picture.

But Ali was coming off a brutal fight with Earnie Shavers and wasn’t looking forward to what would have been a mandatory bout against Ken Norton, whom he had already fought three times and who seemed to have Ali’s number. Instead, he sought an easy mark for a fight that was to be nationally televised on ABC, even knowing he would be stripped of one of his titles for taking another fight.

Enter Spinks, who was such a big underdog most sports books didn’t even take bets on the fight.

“In that fight everything clicked,” Arum said. “He came in with a game plan and he beat Ali. It wasn’t that Ali wasn’t at his best, but Leon shocked everybody with how good Leon was.”

Suddenly, Spinks was the heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 25.

“I'm not The Greatest,” Spinks said afterward. “Just the latest.”

Arum was in the dressing room with Ali after the fight, and said Ali directed him to sign Spinks to a quick rematch. The two fought seven months later in a prime-time fight on CBS that set television viewing records at the time, with nearly half the country tuning in.

Ali took the rematch more seriously than he did the first fight, winning a decision though Spinks was competitive. Spinks might have been better, Arum said, but enjoyed the life of being heavyweight champion too much and partied much of the time between fights.

“Leon posed in a bathtub with a glass of champagne smoking a cigar. He suddenly had an entourage as big as one that Ali had,” Arum said. “We were all staying at the same hotel in New Orleans for the rematch and one morning I was coming down to breakfast and Leon got in the elevator and collapsed on the floor. Obviously he had been out drinking and I said, `Leon, are you crazy, you’re fighting in just a few days.’ He said `What do you mean? I’m just coming in from roadwork.'”

Among the notable people in Spinks’ entourage was Lawrence Tureaud, who would later be known as the actor Mr. T and served as bodyguard for the champion.

Spinks was born July 11, 1953, in St. Louis, raised in poverty along with his brother Michael. After discovering boxing both brothers became top amateurs, culminating in the 1976 Olympics where Leon won the light heavyweight gold and Michael won the middleweight gold.

Michael Spinks would go on to win the heavyweight title himself in 1985, defending it three times before being knocked out by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds in their 1988 fight in Atlantic City. By then, the best part of Leon’s career was over, though he would fight until losing a December 1995 fight against Fred Houpe in St. Louis.

After moving to Las Vegas, Spinks was married to Brenda Glur Spinks in 2011. The two were often seen at boxing-related activities, including Spinks’ 2017 induction into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

“He was happy go lucky, the salt of the earth,” Arum said, chuckling at the memories. “Leon was nutty but you couldn’t get angry at the guy. He never meant any harm to anyone. You couldn’t help but love him even though you shook your head at how he acted.”

Tim Dahlberg, The Associated Pres

Rare meteorites from the moon, Mars and more to go under the hammer

For those looking for an accessory a little out of this world, an auction house has an extraordinary offering: meteorites

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© Christie's

Amy Woodyatt 

In an online sale, Christie's auction house is presenting a portfolio of celestial objects, including specimens hailing from the moon and Mars, as well as aesthetic iron meteorites and rocks containing gemstones.

Meteorites are small natural objects from space that survive their passage through Earth's atmosphere and land on the surface -- and while some of the specimens are housed in museums, 75 of them are being sold this month as part of "Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites" auction.

Among the collection is a statue composed of 7-billion-year-old stardust -- an oriented stone meteorite that found its way to Earth in an unusual way.

Unlike most other meteorites, this one did not tumble or invert as it fell to Earth and instead kept a stable orientation as it dropped, according to Christie's. Weighing almost 16 lbs., the stone, which is estimated to sell for $50,000-80,000, has distinctive, diverging markings on the side that faced Earth.

"Everyone has an image in mind of how a meteorite "should look" -- an extraterrestrial body frictionally heated while punching through Earth's atmosphere," James Hyslop, head of science and natural history at Christie's said. "Rarely do the objects survive this fiery descent look like that shared ideal seen in this meteorite," he added

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© Christie's A gibeon meteorite, on sale for an estimated $15,000 - $25,000

Also on sale is a cross-section of Martian rock, with bubbles of the planet's atmosphere trapped inside the slice, estimated at $30,000-50,000. Auctioneers are also offering a specimen of meteorite hailing from the US' largest meteorite shower, in Odessa, Texas, which auctioneers expect could fetch $60,000, along with a sphere fashioned from the meteoritic core of a shattered Swedish asteroid, which could sell for $18,000.

But not all of the objects command astronomical prices -- some of the otherworldly items have a reserve tag starting at $250 for the auction, which will start on February 9.

  

Also up for sale is a sphere fashioned from the meteoritic core of a shattered Swedish asteroid.

You can now buy 7 billion-year-old stardust, pieces of the moon and Mars

If you're looking for an out-of-this-world gift this Valentine's Day, an auction house is offering up rare meteorite chunks from the moon, Mars and beyond — for as little as $250.

© Christie's my-post-35.png

In an online sale beginning Tuesday, February 9, Christie's auction house is auctioning off 72 meteorites — solid pieces of debris from celestial objects like comets and asteroids that arrive on Earth as shooting stars, somehow managing to survive their journey through our atmosphere to land on the surface.

"The weight of every known meteorite is less than the world's annual output of gold, and this sale offers spectacular examples for every collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars," the auction house wrote on its website.

Included in the collection is a meteorite containing 7 billion-year-old stardust, space gems encased in iron and the fourth-largest slice of the moon. A large chunk of Martian rock, worth an estimated $30,000 to $50,000, holds bubbles of the planet's atmosphere trapped inside.

According to Christie's, there are a dozen samples from the moon and Mars, and another dozen previously housed by famous museums around the world.

"Everyone has an image in mind of how a meteorite 'should look' – an extraterrestrial body frictionally heated while punching through Earth's atmosphere," James Hyslop, head of science and natural history for Christie's, said in a statement. "Rarely do the objects survive this fiery descent look like that shared ideal seen in this meteorite. It is a wonder to behold and an honor to have been entrusted with its sale."

One object in the collection never hit the ground — a young boy in Morocco found the meteorite in the branches of a tree a day after a meteor shower — it's worth an estimated $15,000 to $25,000. Yet another hailed from the U.S.' largest meteorite shower in Odessa, Texas, expecting to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.

"If there was ever a time to be awed by the infiniteness of the night sky, we're living in it, but if you want to inspire and see eyes widen — touch a meteorite," said curator Darryl Pitt.

© Provided by CBS News

The auction house said that one of the highlights of the sale is a 16-pound "highly aesthetic oriented stone meteorite," estimated to sell for $50,000 to $80,000.

"Unlike 99% of all other meteorites, this meteorite did not tumble or invert as it plunged to Earth but maintained a stable orientation throughout its descent," the auction house said. "The surface that faced Earth showcases elongated flight marks that radiate outwards in this compelling, extraterrestrial aerodynamic form."

The meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara Desert to Chile to Russia.

The "Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites" auction runs until February 23, and interested buyers located in New York can see them in person, by appoi

Health Canada says baby foods safe after U.S. investigates levels of toxic metals

OTTAWA — Health Canada is reassuring parents that baby foods sold in the country are safe after reviewing the results of a U.S. investigation into levels of toxic metals in products from several major manufacturers.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

The department says in an emailed statement that it works with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to regularly monitor for trace elements, including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.

It says the levels in Canada are "low and not expected to pose a safety concern" based on the available surveillance data.

The U.S. report released Thursday says the House of Representatives subcommittee on economic and consumer policy requested test results from seven of America's largest baby food manufacturers and received information from four, while three refused to comply.

It says arsenic, lead and cadmium were present in baby foods made by the four responding companies at levels higher than the maximum amounts allowed in other products, such as drinking water.

Health Canada, meanwhile, says yearly national surveys test a range of baby foods and brands, such as infant formula, purees and cereals, and immediate action would be taken to protect Canadians from contaminants if levels were found to pose health risks.

The testing results are assessed "to verify compliance to Canadian standards, limits and guidelines and to ensure that the levels found do not pose a risk to consumers" the department says.

It notes the U.S. report is not a scientific risk assessment.

The subcommittee is recommending mandatory testing, labelling and a voluntary phase-out of toxic ingredients by manufacturers, as well as new U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards that set maximum levels of toxic heavy metals in baby foods.

Health Canada says it's working to establish a maximum level of 100 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in rice-based foods for babies and children, and to lower maximum levels in fruit juices.

It says new maximum levels for inorganic arsenic in rice came into force last summer, as did maximum levels for lead in baby formula.

The department notes the Canadian Food Inspection Agency publishes the results of its surveillance programs online.

The companies that complied with the U.S. subcommittee's request were Nurture, Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, Hain Celestial Group and Gerber, while the report says Campbell Soup Company, Walmart and Sprout Foods refused to co-operate with the investigation.

The U.S. report says internal company standards permit "dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals" and the subcommittee is concerned the lack of co-operation from some companies could "obscure the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Alberta animal rescue organization opens first Edmonton facility

Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) has opened a new animal shelter in southeast Edmonton.

The organization leased a 10,000 square-foot space on Coronet Road more than a year ago, finally opening in January.

"We’re so excited this is finally here," said AARCS operations manager Jamey Blair.


"We feel pretty blessed to be open and part of the Edmonton community."

Late Friday, 44 puppies and dogs arrived at the new AARCS facility — their biggest intake so far.

"Often a lot of these dogs are outside, exposed to the elements, so you can see things like frostbite and overall just being outside in this weather is just very hard on them," Blair explained.

"Most of them were just scared. We have some that are a little malnutritioned. We did get one that was injured — hit by a car, but she's doing well," volunteer Tawny Michael said.

The animal welfare organization is based in Calgary. In Edmonton, it's been strictly foster-based for the last five years.

Read more: Second Chance Animal Rescue Society closes doors to new intakes amid COVID-19 funding shortfall

Blair said this new facility is critical when it comes to helping animals from areas further north.

"The drive for some of these animals is very long," Blair said. "Having a safe space where volunteers can go out at a moment's notice, rescue the animals, and us provide temporary care for them until we can get them into foster homes, has been remarkable."

"A lot of times they would have to still keep driving to make it to Calgary, so it's nice to have that stop in between," Michael explained.

The dogs will continue on to Calgary this weekend where, once cleared by the vet, they will be ready for foster homes.

Blair said since opening, they've helped roughly 250 animals.

"We’ll be able to help so many more animals because of a facility like this, and hopefully find many more homes too," she added.

AARCS is looking for more volunteers.

For more information on adoptable animals and how to donate to the rescue organization, head to the website.

A tragedy in every sense’: Union wants Red Deer pork plant shut down after worker dies of COVID-19

The union that represents employees of a Red Deer pork plant wants the Olymel facility temporarily shut down after a worker died of COVID-19.  

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz 

The Olymel facility in Anjou is seen Tuesday, March 24, 2020 in Montreal.

Alberta Health confirmed to Global News on Saturday that a man in his 30s from the Central zone without comorbidities died on Jan. 28 and was connected to the meat-processing plant's outbreak.

Richard Vigneault, a spokesperson for Olymel, called the death sad — "It's unfortunate, and we are very sorry about this" — and offered his condolences to the family. He said an investigation is ongoing.

Read more: All 13 workers sent home from Red Deer meat plant test negative for COVID-19

"This is a tragedy in every sense," said Thomas Hesse, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local No. 401, which represents Olymel, a plant with about 1,800 workers processing thousands of pigs each day.

"There should be a lockdown of that workplace right away in order to have a meaningful, comprehensive investigation of the relationship between the death in the workplace and this broader outbreak so this doesn't happen again, and that is the employer's responsibility.

"Under Alberta law, they have a responsibility to keep their employees safe, and, of course, it's the government's responsibility to enforce the law."

'Crowd into a box'

The Olymel outbreak was declared Nov. 17, 2020, according to Tom McMillan, assistant director of Alberta Health communications. Currently, of the 168 cases linked to this outbreak, 90 are active and 77 have recovered.

"There are these huge risks in these places. Thousands of workers every day go crowd into a box and work side by side," Hesse said.

"You can have as much PPE as you want and plexiglass shields that you want, and people are still bumping into each other."

Read more: How the coronavirus pandemic could change meat processing in Canada

Olymel has recently ramped up production and hiring, Hesse said.

"At Olymel, we haven't seen these very significant outbreaks until recently, and we believe that it's because they've lost sight of health and safety, and they're focused on production, expanding their business and hiring more workers," he said.

"So the workplace is becoming more crowded and new employees aren't being trained and the health and safety culture is being lost. As a result of putting production first, we're seeing someone dying at very, very large numbers of outbreaks."

Read more: Quebec pork processing plant grapples with COVID-19 outbreak, union seeks temporary closure

When asked about Hesse's safety and production claims, Vigneault did not want to comment on what the union told Global News.
'There's going to be an answer'

Hesse said the union has asked the company to close the facility and have experts conduct a health and safety assessment.

"Our job as a union is to speak to the employer, ask them to do the right thing, close the plant down for a little while, hit the pause button. But really, this is the government's role to protect workers and protect the citizens of Alberta, the citizens of Red Deer. This could become a very, very grave situation very quickly unless some action is taken," he said.

McMillan said officials are "taking action to support the health of everyone involved and prevent future spread," which includes offering testing, ensuring people at risk of exposure are isolated and working with operators to make sure appropriate cleaning measures are in place.

As of Saturday afternoon, Hesse said the government and employer have not responded to the union's request.

"Workers are starting to just not show up for work because they're frightened," he said.

Read more: Canadian meat-packing industry looks to make big changes following COVID-19

Vigneault said Olymel received the union's letter, only confirming that "there's going to be an answer."

"We will respond to this letter. This is my answer," Vigneault said.

"But in the meantime, we'll continue with our sanitary measures, our co-operation with [Alberta Health Services], all the staff... and be sure that [additional steps that are working are] enforced and everybody respects those measures. So [we've done] that since the beginning of the pandemic, every day, today as [well as] yesterday as well as tomorrow, and this will continue as long as the pandemic.


"There's no reason, there's no plan to shut the plant down for two weeks as requested by the union. But we will discuss with the union about this request and see what can be done to reassure them."

Vigneault said Olymel is taking the situation "very seriously" with "strong measures, robust processes and safety protocols" to control the outbreak.

Read more: Alberta RCMP reviewing whether COVID-19 death of Cargill meat plant worker was criminal

"We are trying to do everything in our power to keep our employees safe," he said. "We're doing everything that could be done to stop the spread, and we co-operate every day with the unions within the plant."

New study examines addiction medicine treatment in Vietnam

OHSU lead author finds lessons to apply in rural counties across Oregon

OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

An assessment published this week in the journal The Lancet HIV provides new insight about an initiative to integrate treatment of opioid use disorder along with HIV in Vietnam.

The study marks one of the first scientifically robust assessments of a new model of treating HIV in lower or middle income countries where injection drug use is a major cause of HIV infection. It also suggests the importance of building support for peer and community connections to tackle the opioid epidemic that continues to ravage the United States in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was led by scientists and physicians at Hanoi Medical University and Oregon Health & Science University.

"Our study suggests that countries that want to expand treatment for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine should consider interventions to support retention on treatment directed at family networks, peers and community health workers," said co-author Todd Korthuis, M.D., M.P.H., a leader in addiction medicine at OHSU and the study's principal investigator.

Korthuis, professor of medicine (general internal medicine and geriatrics) in the OHSU School of Medicine, became involved in initiating the program in Vietnam after serving as a Visiting Fulbright Scholar in 2012-13.

The new study is the first multisite randomized trial to compare HIV clinic-based buprenorphine therapy compared with simply referring HIV patients to methadone clinics for opioid use disorder treatment. The study examined outcomes for opioid use disorder and for HIV, and how well participants stuck with treatment.

Researchers found that ongoing support is critical.

"We understand that addiction is a brain disease, so people have relapses," senior author Le Minh Giang, M.D., Ph.D., chair of global health at Hanoi Medical University, said in a podcast hosted by The Lancet HIV. "In many cases, the patients left the opioid use disorder treatment and then relapsed into drug use. That's problematic for people who don't have good support from clinical staff."

Buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone, can be prescribed and used outside a specialty addiction clinic, whereas methadone must be closely monitored in part because of a higher risk of overdose in unsupervised settings. Between July of 2015 and February of 2018, a total of 281 people were enrolled in a pilot project to treat people with buprenorphine - a first in Vietnam.

"It's a more flexible treatment than methadone maintenance," Korthuis said. "You can integrate it into HIV clinics and, theoretically, in primary care clinics. Methadone has to be very carefully controlled in a specialty setting."

The new study found that access to buprenorphine is essential for countries aiming to expand access to treatment for opioid use disorder, especially among patients also being treated for HIV.

"One of the things I was impressed with, is the very tight social fabric in Vietnam," Korthuis said in the Lancet podcast. "It's impossible not to overstate the role of the family, the role of the neighborhood and the role of the community in every aspect of life, including health care."

In fact, Korthuis is already implementing a similar outreach model in several rural counties in Oregon through an initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. Known as Oregon HIV/Hepatitis and Opioid Prevention and Engagement, or Oregon HOPE, the initiative relies on peers who have recovered from addiction to engage their neighbors in prevention and treatment services.

The program is currently active in several counties across southern and eastern Oregon.

"Community health workers who really know their neighborhoods are really good at engaging people in addiction treatment - and keeping them in treatment," Korthuis said.

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The Oregon HOPE project now includes Lane, Douglas, Josephine, Curry, Coos, part of Jackson and Umatilla counties in Oregon.

The research was supported through grants from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse, awards R01DA037441 and UG1DA015815; and NIH National Center of Advancing Translational Sciences award UL1TR002369.

Ensuring healthy family mealtimes is important - and complicated

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Research News

 

URBANA, Ill. ¬- Mealtimes are a central aspect of family life, affecting the health and wellbeing of both children and adults. Although the benefits of healthy mealtimes are straightforward, helping all families realize those benefits is quite complicated, new research from University of Illinois shows.

The study highlights ways in which some solutions - such as an exclusive focus on improving food access or on improving mealtime preparation and organization skills - may be less effective if done in isolation, says Allen Barton, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at U of I and lead author on the study.

"Family mealtimes are probably one of the most fundamental and frequent tasks that families engage in. If we are going to improve the health of children and families, effectively addressing family mealtimes will require some attention," he notes. "But in thinking about this issue we need to avoid overly simplistic answers and consider more holistic approaches to solutions."

Barton says previous studies on family mealtimes have tended to focus on either sociological factors (such as community food access and food security) or psychological factors (such as individual behaviors around mealtime activities) but the new study shows both dimensions are closely linked in families.

Barton and co-authors Brenda Koester, Elinor Fujimoto, and Barbara Fiese, researchers at U of I's Family Resiliency Center, studied more than 500 families with elementary school-aged children throughout the state of Illinois. Family members responded to a host of questions on food security, food planning and preparation, and mealtime organization. The researchers analyzed the data for patterns and identified three distinct groups, or family profiles.

The first profile, which comprised 55% of the sample, was characterized as food secure and having high levels of household organization. The families in this group reported the lowest levels of food insecurity and household chaos among the three profiles, as well as the highest levels of efficacy in preparing food, Barton says.

The second profile was at the opposite end of the spectrum and included 27% of the sample. "This group not only reports they are food insecure, but they also report the lowest levels of confidence in preparing and planning meals and most difficulty in daily structure and routine in the home," Barton notes.

The third profile group, which comprised 18% of the sample, had food security levels that ranged between the other two groups, but they reported levels of meal planning efficacy and household chaos similar to families in the food secure group.

That food insecurity is co-occurring with other family risk patterns means efforts to promote healthy family mealtimes should address multiple aspects, Barton says.

"We need to ensure families have access to healthy food. But we also need to make sure individuals within the family feel competent to prepare and plan meals, and the day-to-day organization at home has some stability and routine," he states.

The researchers also identified specific differences among the groups in food preparation strategies and mealtime behaviors. In particular, families in the second profile (those with very low food security and more difficulty organizing daily tasks) reported fewer weekly meals together, higher technology use during meals, and greater usage of away-from-home food preparation strategies than families in the other groups. All these behaviors correlate with less healthy food consumption and outcomes, Barton says.

While the study found clear differences, there were also some similarities among the three groups. All of the families were equally likely to shop for food in a variety of stores, including grocery stores, discount stores, and big box stores. The researchers also found general agreement in most common challenges among families concerning household meals, including how to deal with picky eaters and wanting easy menu ideas.

"The findings from this study are important in helping us develop practical resources that families can use to address challenges they face in providing healthy meals and regular family mealtimes," Koester notes.

The research also provides information for policy makers to address structural issues around access to food, as well as suggestions for changes within the home.

"We need to understand risk is multifaceted, so we should avoid myopic answers and solutions. We need to address food insecurity. We also need to help individuals increase their confidence in preparing meals as well as building routines, predictability, and organization into life in the home," Barton states.

For families, Barton emphasizes the importance of prioritizing family mealtimes. "These mundane aspects of family life that may seem trivial are really formative. Think about one aspect that you want to improve in this area - whether it's having more healthy meals, less screen usage during meals, learning about different food banks, or just having more meals together during the week - and then develop a strategy to go about doing it. There are some tremendous resources, including ones created by the researchers and educators at the University of Illinois, available to help you and your family."

For families facing food insecurity, Illinois Extension has created a resource called Find Food IL, which provides localized information for access to food. For families with children, the Family Resiliency Center offers help with family routines and other strategies for building resilience, as well as a series of videos on mealtime challenges and a collection of healthy meal recipes.

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The Department of Human Development and Family Studies is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois.

The article, "The complexities of family mealtimes in the 21st century: A latent profile analysis," is published in Appetite. Authors include Allen Barton, Brenda Koester, Elinor Fujimoto, and Barbara Fiese.
[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.105009]

Partial funding for this research was provided by the Christopher Family Foundation Food and Family Program.