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Junction Residents Association focused on combatting hate, building community

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

As Toronto has seen a recent surge in hate-motivated incidents, the Junction Residents Association (JRA) has been working on a grassroots campaign aimed at combatting hatred.“One of the values that we have as an organization is inclusiveness,” Helen Vassilakos, the organization’s co-chair, said.“We wanted to make sure that that message was clear in our neighbourhood.”Two-and-a-half years ago, the JRA developed the “Hate has no home here” campaign, which is based on a similar initiative in Oakville. The campaign involves lawn signs and window decals. The organization has sold around 25 window decals and 75 lawn signs to date. The proceeds of sales were set to go toward funding educational workshops for Junction residents.“If anything, this brings people to a conversation about the issue,” Vassilakos said, referencing the campaign. “There’s one person that had mentioned that they had someone who came to do work at their...

Mentally disabled Indiana man wrongfully convicted in slaying reaches $11.7 million settlement

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — A mentally disabled man who was wrongfully convicted in the slaying of a 94-year-old woman has reached an $11.7 million settlement with a northern Indiana city and former police officers, his attorneys said Friday.The settlement for Andrew Royer, who spent 16 years in prison after confessing to Helen Sailor’s killing, is the largest known Indiana settlement reached in a wrongful conviction case, said Elliot Slosar, one of Royer’s attorneys.“It is no coincidence that Andy received the largest wrongful conviction settlement in Indiana history,” Slosar said in a statement. “Andy was among the most vulnerable in our society when he was coerced into a false confession and framed for a crime he did not commit.”A jury convicted Royer of murder in 2005 and he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the November 2002 slaying of Sailor, who was found strangled in her Elkhart apartment.Royer’s attorneys argued on appeal that his confession to Sailor’...

New trial ordered for New Brunswick men convicted of murder in 1984

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal justice minister has ordered a new trial for two New Brunswick men convicted of a 1984 murder.Arif Virani says in a news release today that after a review, he has determined there’s a reasonable basis to conclude a miscarriage of justice occurred in the convictions of Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie.The two men were convicted of second-degree murder in the slaying of George Gilman Leaman in Saint John, N.B., and an appeal of their convictions was dismissed by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 1988.They were sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 18 years.Virani says his decision is the result of new information that was not submitted to the courts at the time of the men’s initial trials and appeals and that calls into question “the overall fairness of the process.”Mailman and Gillespie submitted their application for criminal conviction review in December 2019, and both are now on parole and out of custod...

‘Iron Claw’ director Sean Durkin was ‘haunted’ by film’s real-life wrestling tragedy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

When pro wrestler Kerry Von Erich died by suicide in 1993, it left a mark on Sean Durkin. The Ontario-born writer-director was 12 at the time, but he’s been thinking about it ever since. The death resonated with the filmmaker on an even deeper level when he began to look into the late brawler’s family. The Von Erichs were a close-knit wrestling tribe of five Texas brothers raised by their ring veteran father to achieve triumphant highs in the ’70s and ’80s, only to be overshadowed by tragic lows. All but one of the siblings would die before the age of 35.Their story is back in the spotlight with Durkin’s new A24 biopic “The Iron Claw,” which stars Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White as Kevin and Kerry Von Erich.“Kerry’s death definitely hit me as a kid,” says Durkin. “My dad’s brother had died previously a few months before. My dad had six brothers, too. And so there was some connection I made there. I just felt connected to them and that loss haunted me. It just stay...

More Brazilians declared themselves as being biracial, country’s statistics agency says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — More Brazilians declared they are biracial than white last year, the country’s statistics agency said on Friday, citing data from its most recent census. Agency IBGE said in a statement that about 92.1 million people — which is about 45.3% of the country’s population — consider themselves biracial. Another 88.2 million Brazilians, or 43.5% of the population, said they are white. In 2010, when the previous census was made in Brazil, 47.7% of the population declared as white while 43.1% identified as biracial.IBGE said it was the first time since 1991 that these demographics appear in the South American nation, where millions of Blacks and Indigenous peoples have endured racism since their ancestors were enslaved. Brazil’s official statistics agency describes the country’s racial demographics split into groups named as white, black, brown, yellow and Indigenous. Brown refers to biracial and yellow to Asian descendants. The agency made its first ...

Man believed taken hostage with Canadian wife by Hamas confirmed dead: report

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

An American Israeli man who was taken hostage with his Canadian wife by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel has reportedly been confirmed dead. ABC News reports that the Israeli group Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum has learned 73-year-old Gadi Hagi was taken from a kibbutz, killed and his body was taken by Hamas into Gaza.The dual citizen was married to 70-year-old Judih Weinstein Haggai, who holds U.S., Israeli and Canadian citizenships and is still believed to be among the remaining hostages.Her family has said she was born in New York state and moved to Toronto when she was three years old before she settled in Israel 20 years later to live with her husband.The family has said Haggai and her husband were out for a walk when the Oct. 7 attacks began, and she sent a text message to members of her community saying that a militant on a motorcycle had shot her husband and she was less severely wounded.ABC News says the hostages and missing persons forum states ...

Foreign interference inquiry requests postponement of first report to May

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

OTTAWA — A federal inquiry into foreign interference has asked to delay its first report by about two months in order to allow sufficient time for a public process and hearings on the issues.Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue says in a press release today the requested postponement until May 3 is aimed at giving “meaning and purpose” to preliminary hearings, and to allow more time to maximize transparency.She adds that ensuring classified information is put into a form that can be released to the public is a long and complicated process.The commission will begin holding public hearings late next month, looking at attempted meddling by China, Russia and other foreign states, as well as non-state actors, in recent Canadian elections. Earlier today the inquiry also dismissed a request from the Conservative party to reverse an earlier decision to deny it full standing in the factual phase of the proceedings.That means the Conservative party won’t be able to cross-examine w...

How Travis County, Texas' GDP has changed since 2018

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (Stacker) — Travis County's GDP was $171 billion in 2022—the #3 highest out of 254 counties in the state. Texas' overall GDP was $2.4 trillion for the year, with Travis County's making up 7.1% of it.Travis County's GDP grew about 24% from 2018 to 2022, adjusted for inflation, while the state's GDP grew about 14%.Gross domestic product is the dollar amount that measures how many goods and services businesses created in a given time period. It's measured quarterly but also often talked about in annual terms.It's of particular importance to world leaders and economists because a declining measurement for two consecutive quarters can mean that the country is in a recession—a significant decline in overall economic activity that creates pain for workers.But it can be difficult to wrap our heads around how much our immediate communities contribute to that larger national picture and what kinds of work drive economic advancement for the places we live. That's why Stack...

Abbott: Texas leads nation in job growth, sets 3 new record highs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

Editor’s note: The above video shows KXAN’s morning headlines for Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — November employment data showed Texas continued to lead the nation in annual job growth, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.A statement from the governor’s office said Texas added more jobs over the last 12 months than any state, as well as set three new record highs for:total jobs at 14,094,900the number of Texans working at 14,576,500the largest labor force in the state’s history at 15,192,900“I am proud that more Texans are working than ever before, thanks to employers who continue to invest and grow jobs here. Texas serves as a beacon of opportunity, proving that when given the freedom to aspire and the foundation to succeed, businesses flourish and people prosper,” said Abbott. “As we look to the new year, we will continue to work together and safeguard the promise of an even bigger, brighter Texas for generations to come.”According to the governor’s office, Texas has experi...

How gas prices have changed in Texas in the last week

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:30 GMT

TEXAS (Stacker) — Gas prices have rebounded slightly after more than 10 consecutive weeks of drops, bringing the national average to about where it was this same time last year.Record U.S. oil production and slipping demand have kept prices at the pump lower and contributed to a welcome decline in overall inflation this year. If pre-pandemic seasonal trends still hold weight, that run of lower prices could be coming to an end, analysts noted this week."Daily gas prices will likely move back and forth for the next month or so," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement this week.Florida, Texas, Delaware, and South Carolina have seen roughly 10-cent-per-gallon increases in their gas prices over the last week while prices have fallen the most in Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, and California.Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Texas. Gas prices are as of Dec. 22.Texas by the numbers- Gas current price: $2.69- Week change: +$0.14 (+5.5%)- Year change: +$0.08 (+3.0%)- Historica...