Weekly News Recap: February 19, 2020

Arlene Adamson, CEO of Silvera for Seniors, says the organization is grateful for a $12-million gift from an anonymous donor that will support the company's "commitment to our housing and services for older adults. PHOTO BY SUPPLIED PHOTO /Postmedia News

Laugh as much as you breath. Love as long as you live. -- Rumi

SOME GOOD NEWS

• Village Teacher Wins $1 Million Prize For World's Most 'Exceptional' Educator (NPR) Teachers are exceptional in general. This one, even more so. Great choice! "In 2010, Indian teacher Ranjitsinh Disale heard that one of his teenage female students was going to marry a man in his 30s. 'I directly went to the girl's house and told her father, "You cannot do this,"' says Disale, 32, who currently teaches third- and fourth-graders at a government school in Paritewadi, a small village in western India. When the father didn't agree, Disale called the police because child marriage is illegal in India. Together they counseled the father. Finally, he called off the wedding."

• Cancer patient who wears onesies around hospital get a special surprise from staff (Yahoo) Made me smile. Made me cry. #GreatStory

• Cat lost in Toronto airport more than 3 weeks ago returned to Winnipeg man (CBC) WINNIPEG STORY Poor thing. #HomeAtLast "Emaciated and filthy after going missing for weeks in Canada's largest airport, Dewy the cat was finally reunited with his grateful owner in [Winnipeg]."

• Chatham woman stunned after scoring 365 points on a single word in Scrabble (CBC) CHATHAM STORY This is for the Scrabble nerds. You know who you are. Can you guess how she did it? "In Scrabble, 365 points would be considered a great score for an entire game, but Betty Kuchta of Chatham, Ont., earned all those points with just a single word."

• This Calgary apparel company is reviving your favourite dead sports franchises (Daily Hive) CALGARY This is the #Bomb. So smart. "Everyone has a favourite old sports team, local business, or venue that’s no longer around today. Times change and all good things must come to an end, so we totally understand when some of the classics have to go. But what if you still want to rep your local favourite from days past? YYC’s own C of Dead Clothing Co. brings a solution to Calgarians with an apparel line that offers merch from long-dead sports franchises such as the Calgary Cannons, Stampede Wrestling, Calgary Radz, and Calgary 88s."

• Stephen King donation to elementary students will allow them to publish their own books (The Hill) Nice work Mr. King. I wonder if it's a horror story :-) "A group of young aspiring writers is getting a helping hand from legendary author Stephen King to publish their own books. Students from Farwell Elementary School in Lewiston, Maine, have been working on a manuscript over the course of several years — working out the plot, character development and storyline alongside Maine author Gary Savage — as part of the school’s Author Studies [Program]."

• Calgary man does 1,020 pullups and raises $7,235 in funds for youth organization (CBC) CALGARY STORY Holy crap. I can't even do one. #Goals"A Calgary man is putting a lot of strength into giving back to the community. Last weekend, Harrison Smith did 1,020 pullups in hopes of raising funds for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Calgary — an organization aimed at helping youth."

• Titanic turnip earns Quebec gardener a world record (CBC) GASPÉ STORY #Why "Gaspé gardener Damien Allard is officially a Guinness World Record holder for the 29-kilogram turnip he unearthed in November. Weighing roughly as much as an adult husky or a 65-inch television, the turnip crushed the previous record of 17.7 kilograms set in 2004."

PHOTOGRAPHY

• Calgarians share beautiful winter photos from the city and nearby (CBC) CALGARY STORY The Ranchlands sign is funny. "This week, we issued a callout for your best winter photos from within Calgary and its surrounding areas. Here is a selection of what you've sent us, from animals doing quite well in the frigid weather to some spectacular scenery."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

1. OPINION | Transformation of Glenbow and Arts Commons a rare opportunity (CBC) CALGARY STORY We are excited. Woot! "Big things are in place for Calgary's two largest cultural institutions — Arts Commons and the Glenbow — in 2021. Not only will plans be finalized for massive renovations totalling over half-a-billion dollars, but their new leaders will start to implement their new ideas. Alex Sarian took over the president and CEO role at Arts Commons in May 2020, while Nicholas Bell arrived in November 2019 to take the helm at the Glenbow."

2. Edmonton river valley gondola project gets nod from city (CBC) EDMONTON STORY This is cool but Christine says she would not be caught dead on a gondola. Not me. I love them! "City council should approve a framework agreement with Prairie Sky Gondola Inc., the company pitching to the gondola from downtown to Whyte Avenue." RELATED: Edmonton engineers, business leaders high on proposed river-valley gondola project

3. 3.9 magnitude earthquake shakes Banff, Alta. (CBC) BANFF STORY I was making dinner in Canmore, it felt like the house had been hit by a truck. No damage. "A 3.9 magnitude earthquake hit Banff, Alta. [recently]. Taimi Mulder, an earthquake seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, confirmed the earthquake struck six kilometres north of the mountain town, near Cascade Mountain, at 6:33 p.m. MT."

4. Art projections on the Glenbow to include ‘of-the-moment’ work by Indigenous artists (The Star) CALGARY STORY This is awesome. "A new art initiative is set to bring an illuminating new perspective to downtown Calgary over the next weeks. Titled project prõjekt, the event will showcase 60 Alberta-based artists with their work projected on the side of the Glenbow Museum."

5. Alberta Blue Cross continues to support community organizations through COVID grant program (Todayville) ALBERTA STORY Nice move Blue Cross! Thanks to ViTreo's head of research, Ken Kempcke for sharing this article. "Based on the continued need for support, Alberta Blue Cross has extended its popular COVID Community Roots Program into 2021. Alberta Blue Cross received 156 applications for the program in 2020 and awarded a total of $195,000 to 45 projects in 38 different communities across Alberta. The program is now being extended to the end of June. More than $45,600 of this was received by 11 organizations in central Alberta, including the Boys and Girls Club of Leduc, Shine Lloydminster, Samson Youth and Sport Development, Park Valley Pool, Leduc County, Devon and two projects in Edson."

6. Why cryptocurrency may be in the process of becoming the new gold (CBC) But...it is gaining traction. #NewWorld "The idea that cryptocurrency could change in a mere decade from a baffling computerized oddity to something akin to gold seems crazy. Or maybe something out of a fairy-tale fantasy like the Grimm brothers' Rumpelstiltskin."

7. Woowa Brothers' founder joins super wealthy donation campaign (Korea Herald) Nice work. More please. "Kim Bong-jin, the founder and chairman of a local delivery app operator Woowa Brothers [...] joined the bandwagon of rich, self-made South Koreans donating substantial amounts of their assets to society. Kim said he and his wife have joined The Giving Pledge, a global campaign of the world’s wealthiest people contributing a majority of their assets to philanthropic projects, and that they would donate a half of their wealth in their [lifetimes]."

8. Elon Musk's $100M US carbon capture contest offers 'a lot of motivation' for research: Sask. prof (CBC) CANADIAN CONTENT Go Elon! "A Saskatchewan researcher says he's glad to see one of the world's richest people making a major investment in research and development of carbon emissions technology. Tesla co-founder and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced he and his charity foundation will spend $100 million US — about $127 million Cdn — on a contest that will see researchers create projects to pull CO2 out of the air or ocean."

9. Numbers reveal a ‘diversity deficit’ in boardrooms of the charitable and non-profit sectors (The Star) CANADIAN STORY We need to do better. Thanks to Ron Bailey for sharing this article. "A Statistics Canada survey has found 59 per cent of responding board members in the sector were women, but designated groups appeared to be under-represented in the governance of these organizations. Of the 6,170 people who sat on these boards and responded to the survey, only 14 per cent identified themselves as immigrants; 11 per cent as belonging to a visible minority group; eight per cent as LGBTQ2+; six per cent as persons with a disability; and three per cent as First Nations, Métis or Inuit."

10. Charitable Foundations Are Accumulating Great Wealth as Charities Struggle (Newswire) CANADIAN STORY Thanks to ViTreo's head of research, Ken Kempcke for sharing this article. "A new public campaign: IncreaseTheGrants.ca launched this week. It asks the Federal Government to stop allowing charitable foundations from accumulating greater wealth, and to increase their percentage of assets granted to our struggling charities helping to serve millions of Canadians in need. Launched by Canadian philanthropic leader John Hallward, the '#IncreaseTheGrants' campaign calls for foundations to return to their spending ratios of ten years ago."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

1. 5 Sufi Insights to Live More Gracefully (Live Your Life On Purpose) Rumi always calms my soul. I hope his word do the same for you.

2. The Most Effective Cardio Workout, According to Science (elemental+) Turns out, they all are...if you are consistent and focus on getting 150 minutes in. Brisk walk anyone?

3. Harvard’s Most Popular Course is Free, Online (codeX) I watched 15 minutes of the first class. I am hooked. Honestly, I recommend this course to anyone, even if you have no interest ever in computing science. CS informs so much of our world, it has to be at least a universal understanding if not a skill.

4. Why Asking for Help Is the Most Important Behavior for Your Team (The Startup) I have always admired those who ask for help. I have been getting better and by that I mean that every time I ask for help, I "get better".

5. 3 Habits of Incredibly Healthy People (In Fitness And In Health) No surprise on the first two but the third is interesting.

6. How to Take Notes (The Startup) Not a how-to but a process.

7. How to create a stop doing list: do less to get more (Happy Healthy Teacher) I have been saving this post for a few week. It's a really great idea. #DeclutterYourMind

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

1. Silvera welcomes $12M gift to boost affordable living for seniors (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY What a lovely anonymous gift and to an area that really needs more attention. Great work Arlene! "Arlene Adamson, CEO of Silvera for Seniors, was pleased to hear the person on the other end of the phone comment on the first-class job Silvera was doing handling the COVID-19 situation and the overall performance of the organization in providing affordable housing, important services and lifestyle options to a mix of independent older adults. The discussion concluded with the offer of the largest donation in Silvera’s nearly 60 years of service — $12 million to be used to best suit our aging population."

2. Jordan announces $10 mln donation to open health clinics in North Carolina (National Post) Nice work Michael! "Jordan, who grew up and attended high school in Wilmington, had previously donated $7 million to set up family clinics in Charlotte to support vulnerable communities."

3. Outdoor hockey players in Alberta break records, raise $1.8M for cancer research (CBC) EDMONTON STORY What a win for cancer resaerch. #Wow "The world's longest hockey game in Alberta broke multiple records this year. Forty people took turns playing hockey on an outdoor rink near Edmonton during record cold temperatures 24 hours a day, seven days a week since Feb. 4. The teams, named Team Hope and Team Cure, hit the 252-hour mark at about 6 a.m. Monday to break their own Guinness World Record. The final score of the game was 2,649 to 2,528 for Team Hope."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

• Regina Tim Hortons team makes tribute to top doctor with sweater vest donut (CBC)

• Good Samaritan given new car after driving stranded family to Alaska (CBC)

• This Calgary business turns sea cans into backyard offices (CBC)

• UNBC lays off nine in face of budget challenge (Prince George Citizen)

• I’ve followed the Mediterranean diet for years. Here are 11 things I always have in my pantry and fridge. (Insider)

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