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Parks Canada plans major rewrite of more than 200 historic site plaques

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

EDMONTON — They’re affixed to old buildings where someone important used to live. Or they’re mounted on a rock overlooking somewhere where something once happened. Cast in bronze or lettered on a sign, they’re sometimes the only history lesson many of us ever get. And now Parks Canada wants hundreds of them changed. “The way that many of the national historic designations are framed and positioned does not do justice to the breadth of impacts that they had on Canadian society,” said Pat Kell, the agency’s director of heritage. Parks is in the middle of a three-year program to re-examine and rewrite the plaques that the Historic Sites and Monuments Board use to point out places deemed important to understanding Canada’s past. Sites slated for rewrite include fur trade forts such as Fort Langley in British Columbia and Manitoba’s York Factory. Others relate to the War of 1812, like Queenston Heights in Ontario. Some involve historic figu...

Gas prices could rise for long weekend and into summer amid fires, economic worries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

TORONTO — Experts say shifting factors including wildfires in Alberta, a slowing economy and potential pressures on supply will all have an effect on gas prices as the long weekend heralds the start of the summer. “This weekend is the kickoff for summer driving season in Canada,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.This period is usually characterized by higher demand for gas as people go on more road trips and take their motorcycles and sports carts out of hibernation, he said. “It’s not unusual to see gas prices go up and down around weekends, and especially long weekends.”However, the price of crude has been drifting for a while, said Cieszynski, with concerns over demand while the economy muddles along in the face of higher interest rates.“It boils down to a question of supply and demand,” said Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst at En-Pro International.“It’s also a question of inflation and recession and how that&#...

Daily horoscope for May 19, 2023

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT today (10:30 a.m. to 12 noon PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Taurus into Gemini.Happy Birthday for Friday, May 19, 2023:You like to improve things and help others because you care about the world you live in. You take a rational, practical approach to life. You have strong opinions and will defend them. What you achieve this year will be the result of hard work. Simplicity will be the key.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★This lovely New Moon day brings you a chance to ponder your values. (Something we often never think about.) What are the values that guide your life? This is one of the best days of the year for you to get a clearer picture of this. Tonight: Speak up.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★Today the only New Moon in your sign all year is taking place, which gives you the perfect opportunity to take a realistic look in the mirror and see the image you create on your world. What can you do to improve ...

Five Germans handed jail sentence for Green Vault jewel heist

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

A German court sentenced on Tuesday (16 May) five men to many years in prison for their role in a jewel heist that took place in Dresden in 2019. The museum houses one of Europe’s largest art collections.The stolen pieces from the Gruenes Gewoelbe museum (Green Vault), in Dresden, contained over 4,300 diamonds worth an estimated €113 million.The police have said that most of the stolen jewels were recovered.Six German men in their 20s were charged with serious arson and aggravated gang robbery.Five family members received sentences ranging from four years, four months to six years, two months.The men were said to have sawn a part of the window grating and then reattached it in order to enter the building as fast as possible.Augustus the Strong (Elector of Saxony, later King of Poland) commissioned more and more beautiful jewellery in the 18th Century as part of his rivalry against France's Louis XIV.They were taken as war booty to the Soviet Union by the Soviets. In 1958, they were ...

Miss Manners: I tried to fix the shoddy bouquet and ended up embarrassing my friend. Was I in the wrong?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I enjoy sending festive flower arrangements to friends. In one such case, my friend sent a text to thank me and provided a photo of what was delivered.She was pleased with it, but I was not. The flowers she received were vaguely similar to what I had ordered and paid for, but definitely lacking in both quality and quantity.I contacted the merchant and they handled it well, promptly sending her a new arrangement (and she was allowed to keep the first one, as well). I explained the situation to her in advance and she sent me another photo of the second delivery. It was lovely.However, my friend said I should not have made a fuss. She was happy with the first arrangement and felt awkward accepting the second, as I was the party who had complained, not her.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: I want to talk about my problems, not listen to theirs Advice | Miss Manners: What’s a polite way to make sure I get the painting when she dies...

Dear Abby: This woman moved into my house, and now I’m not allowed to go downstairs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I am a man who let a woman move into my house 10 years ago.She’s intelligent and said she was going to get a professional job in her former field, but she never tried. She moved all her possessions in, and her stuff is piled high everywhere. She’s a COVID fanatic and insists we live separately — she’s downstairs, and I’m upstairs. We are both fully vaccinated.She puts food out for me, and I have not even been “allowed” to go downstairs in my own house. She has a bit of a temper.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Our new neighbor is trouble, and my girlfriend thinks he’s great Advice | Dear Abby: The man I was cheating with won’t apologize for cheating on me Advice | Dear Abby: Is it wrong to get married when I’m hung up on a dead man? Advice | Dear Abby: I’ve retired from cheating. Why does my wife still have me on a tight leash? Advice | ...

NFL confirms no Commanders sale vote will take place at spring owners meetings next week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The pending $6.05 billion sale of the Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder and his family to a group led by investor Josh Harris remains under standard review and will not be voted on next week by NFL owners at their spring meeting, the league said Thursday.Jeff Miller, the NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, confirmed on a conference call with reporters that the approval vote will come later. Team owners will receive an update on the process at their previously scheduled meetings in Minnesota, but no action will be taken.The sale agreement was finalized last Friday. NFL staff and finance committee members will continue to review the details in the meantime. The deal must be approved by three-quarters of the league (at least 24 of 32 owners) and satisfy other customary closing conditions.“Nothing special or out of the ordinary process as we would for any other transaction,” Miller said.The deal is the largest for...

DC police identify man killed in April shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

D.C. police have identified a man killed in a late-April shooting in Southeast as 60-year-old Anthony Petty.Police announced Thursday the homicide happened April 27 at around 9:45 p.m. in the 2600 block of 12th Place, Southeast. When officers got to the scene, they found Petty shot dead.The department did not announce any arrest in the case.D.C. police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person responsible for homicide. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call them at 202-727-9099.A map of where the shooting happened is below.Source

3, 2, 1: DC-area students prepare to compete in nation’s largest model rocketry competition

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

For some people, getting an egg home from the grocery store without breaking it is a huge accomplishment, but some D.C.-area high schoolers have a much tougher mission this weekend: Send an egg into the sky aboard a rocket and bring it back down without scrambling it.On Saturday in The Plains, Virginia, the American Rocketry Challenge holds its national finals. At Great Meadow, 100 teams from across the U.S. will compete in the largest model rocketry competition, including several teams from the D.C. region.“A lot of work went into trying to make it,” said Stephen Vaz, a senior at Oakton High School in Vienna, Virginia.He said it took the team three months of coming in after school to come up with the perfect design.“We had to make this rocket and then we had to make a backup rocket, too, and that takes time, you know, gluing takes time. You can’t just put glue on there and hope that works in five seconds, you got to space out the entire thing to make sure that you’re ki...

Así puedes ver la luna del “resplandor de Da Vinci”, un fenómeno muy común

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:36 GMT

(CNN) — Observa el cielo durante la próxima semana y puede que logres ver el “resplandor Da Vinci”.Se trata de un fenómeno que puede producirse al atardecer, cuando la luna creciente está en el horizonte, pero aún se puede ver el contorno de la luna llena. El “resplandor Da Vinci” es un fenómeno común y fácil de ver, explica Christine Shupla, responsable de divulgación científica del Lunar and Planetary Institute de Houston. Pero su aparición fue en su día un misterio inescrutable.La causa de ese efecto fantasmagórico de luna llena, a veces llamado “la luna vieja en brazos de la luna nueva”, era una antigua pregunta que Leonardo da Vinci, según la NASA, logró esclarecer. Y la respuesta es la luz procedente de la Tierra.Distinta de la luz del sol, la luz de la Tierra se refiere a la luz emitida desde la Tierra incluso después de que el sol se ponga, dijo la NASA. Esta fuente de luz procedente de la Tierra es unas 50 veces más brillante que la luz d...