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Former Blue Jay José Bautista on MLB’s 2024 Hall of Fame ballot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays outfielder José Bautista has made baseball’s 2024 Hall of Fame ballot.Bautista was one of 28 players announced on the ballot, including former Blue Jays starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and infielder José Reyes. It’s Bautista’s first year of eligibility.The 43-year-old played 10 seasons in Toronto, emerging as one of baseball’s best sluggers while North of the Border. He ranks among the top five in several Blue Jays all-time categories, including home runs (288), RBIs (766), walks (803), and games played (1,235). He also ranks first among Blue Jays position players in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), with 38.3 accrued during his tenure.During his time in Toronto, Bautista was a six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger. He had 288 homers with the Blue Jays, including a major league-leading 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011. The 54 home runs he slugged in 2010 are a single-season Blue Jays record, as is the 8.4 WAR he posted in 2011. Relate...

Congolese businessman Katumbi launches his presidential campaign to challenge Tshisekedi

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese businessman and opposition leader Moise Katumbi launched his presidential campaign on Monday, five years after the regime in power at the time blocked him from running.Katumbi’s rally in the city of Kisangani came a day after his two main competitors, President Felix Tshisekedi and opposition figure Martin Fayulu, started their campaigns ahead of the Dec. 20 vote.Katumbi criticized Tshisekedi’s record in the country’s volatile east, where the army has been battling M23 rebels and other armed groups.“Tshisekedi has recruited foreign mercenaries instead of increasing the salaries of the military and police to defend territorial integrity,” Katumbi told his supporters.Katumbi, the former governor of Katanga province, also rebuffed Tshisekedi’s insinuations Sunday that unspecified opposition candidates backed Rwanda. The neighboring country has been accused of funding and arming the M23 rebels, which its government denies.Represen...

Concerns emerge over NextStar’s plans to hire foreign workers for battery plant

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

WINDSOR, Ont. — Concerns are rising over plans by NextStar Energy Inc. to bring in foreign workers to help build a battery plant in Windsor, Ont., that is being supported by an expected $15 billion in public funding.Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday that he is pushing for a full inquiry into the issue, and wants a commitment that no public funding will go to foreign workers. It’s not clear how many workers NextStar Energy, a joint venture between automaker Stellantis and South Korea’s LG, plans to bring from outside Canada. NextStar Energy chief executive Danies Lee says in a statement that the company is committed to hiring Canadians to fill more than 2,500 full-time jobs at the battery plant, and engage with up to 2,300 more local tradespeople to help with construction and installation.However, he says the installation phase of the project also requires temporary specialized global supplier staff, who have proprietary knowledge and specialized ex...

Black Friday, Cyber Monday shoppers to focus on quality, timing this year: experts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

TORONTO — For Harley Finkelstein, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are akin to the Super Bowl.Staff at his e-commerce software company Shopify Inc. start preparing for the big week during the summer by stress-testing systems and ensuring checkout will be as seamless as possible for the firm’s thousands of merchants during the November shopping stretch.“I don’t sleep for that five-day period,” said Finkelstein, Shopify’s president. “My wife knows about it. My kids know about it. I am in full Black Friday, Cyber Monday mode.”This year the e-commerce heavyweight expects the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period to be just as frenzied, but something will be different: shoppers’ moods.Inflation, high interest rates and layoffs are weighing on wallets — and Finkelstein thinks it will make shoppers more intentional about what they buy.“I think ‘less but better’ is probably going to be one of the themes,” he said.R...

CP NewsAlert: Saskatchewan man pleads guilty to killing wife with strychnine drink

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A Saskatchewan man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the poisoning of his wife on their family farm.Cindy MacKay of Meota, who was 38, died in February of 2020.Court in Battleford has heard Michael MacKay mixed strychnine, a toxic pesticide, into a drink he served his wife, causing her a painful death.Medical staff contacted RCMP because her death seemed suspicious.An agreed statement of facts read into court says Michael MacKay was having an affair.Family members told court Cindy MacKay was a loving mother and her death has left them shattered and fearful.The Canadian Press

Commission investigating Lewiston mass shooting seeks to subpoena shooter’s military records

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — An independent commission investigating the mass shooting that killed 18 people in Maine last month moved Monday to seek subpoena power so it can obtain the military service records of the shooter.Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey have tasked the commission with performing a review of the events leading up to the Lewiston shootings and the response to it. Army reservist Robert Card, 40, killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant on Oct. 25 before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.The commission held its first meeting on Monday and members unanimously voted to request subpoena power from the Maine Legislature.“We will be seeking military records, and those might not be accessible to us without subpoena power,” said Toby Dilworth, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maine and a commission member. “It’s essential that we have this subpoena power.”The commission is chaired by Daniel Wathen, former chi...

Solar panels will cut water loss from canals in Gila River Indian Community

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

In a move that may soon be replicated elsewhere, the Gila River Indian Community recently signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put solar panels over a stretch of irrigation canal on their land south of Phoenix.It will be the first project of its kind in the United States to actually break ground, according to the tribe’s press release. “This was a historic moment here for the community but also for the region and across Indian Country,” said Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis in a video published on X, formerly known as Twitter. The first phase, set to be completed in 2025, will cover 1000 feet of canal and generate one megawatt of electricity that the tribe will use to irrigate crops, including feed for livestock, cotton and grains.The idea is simple: install solar panels over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they reduce evaporation and make renewable electricity.“We’re proud to be leaders in water conservation, and this project is...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2:Nov. 26: Impressionist Rich Little is 85. Singer Jean Terrell (The Supremes) is 79. Bassist John McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 78. Actor Marianne Muellerleile (Film’s “Memento,” TV’s “Life With Bonnie”) is 75. Actor Scott Jacoby (“That Certain Summer”) is 67. Actor Jamie Rose (“Falcon Crest,” “St. Elsewhere”) is 64. Country singer Linda Davis is 61. Actor Scott Adsit (“30 Rock”) is 58. Actor Kristin Bauer (“True Blood”) is 57. Actor Peter Facinelli (“Nurse Jackie”) is 50. Actor Tammy Lynn Michaels (”The L Word,” “Popular”) is 49. Hip-hop artist DJ Khaled is 48. Actor Maia Campbell (“In the House”) is 47. Country singer Joe Nichols is 47. Musicians Randy and Anthony Armstrong of Red are 45. Actor Jessica Bowman (“Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman”) is 43. Singer Natasha Bedingfield is 42. Actor Jessica Camacho (“Taken,” “The Flash”) is 41. Singer-guitarist Mike Gossin of Gloriana is 39. Drummer Ben Wysocki of The Fray is 39. Singer Lil Fizz of B...

Finland’s prime minister hints at further border action as Russia protests closings of crossings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Finland’s prime minister on Monday said the country may need to take further actions on its border with Russia after closing four border crossings in an attempt to stem a recent increase in asylum-seekers.Finland, which joined NATO this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has accused Moscow of letting migrants from the Middle East and Africa without valid travel documents through to the Finnish border. The government closed the border crossings in southeastern Finland last week, but new migrant arrivals were reported at border checkpoints farther north.“The situation has progressed in a bad direction,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was quoted as saying by Finnish public broadcaster YLE during a visit to the Vartius border crossing in east-central Finland. “If there is no change, we will take more measures, and if necessary, quickly. The message is clear that we do not accept this behavior.”He did not rule out closing more border crossings along the 1,340...

After trying to buck trend, newspaper founded with Ralph Nader’s help succumbs to financial woes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — After trying to buck a national trend of media closures and downsizing, a small Connecticut newspaper founded earlier this year with Ralph Nader’s help has succumbed to financial problems and will be shutting down.An oversight board voted Monday to close the Winsted Citizen, a broadsheet that served Nader’s hometown and surrounding area in the northwestern hills of the state since February.Andy Thibault, a veteran journalist who led the paper as editor and publisher, announced the closure in a memo to staff.“We beat the Grim Reaper every month for most of the year,” Thibault wrote. ”Our best month financially resulted in our lowest deficit. Now, our quest regrettably has become the impossible dream. It sure was great — despite numerous stumbles, obstacles and heartaches — while it lasted.” Nader, 89, the noted consumer advocate and four-time presidential candidate, did not answer the phone at his Winsted home Monday morning.The Citizen’s fate...