Weekly News Recap: June 7, 2024

Don and Ruth Taylor, right, stand on stage with SAIT president Dr. David Ross at an announcement for the new Taylor Family Campus Centre at SAIT in Calgary on Thursday, May 30, 2024. The project will be funded in part by a $30-million donation the Taylor Family Foundation. Brent Calver/Postmedia

Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. -- Benjamin Disraeli

SOME GOOD NEWS

How a fed-up carpenter found his stolen power tools — and 15,000 others (Washington Post) #PowerToolHero "Twice before, this Virginia carpenter had awoken in the predawn to start his work day only to find one of his vans broken into. Tools he depends on for a living had been stolen, and there was little hope of retrieving them."
Melinda French Gates to donate $1bn in women's rights (BBC) #Awesome "Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates announced [...] that she is committing $1 billion (£782.4m) over the next two years to women’s causes and gender equity around the world. About $200 million (£157m) will go to organisations fighting for gender and reproductive rights in the US. In a New York Times guest essay, Ms French Gates said she felt compelled to support US reproductive rights following the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion."
Preschool Teacher Donates Liver to Save Former Student's Life: 'We Are Completely Overwhelmed with Her Kindness' (Exclusive) (People) #TeachersRock "Five-year-old Ezra Toczek is receiving the ultimate gift from his former teacher. The young boy suffered liver damage at birth and has since been fighting ongoing health challenges, leading to his recent diagnosis that his liver is failing due to end-stage liver disease. But Ezra has been given a beacon of hope since joining the transplant list [...]. His former preschool teacher, Carissa Fisher, learned of her student’s condition [...] and without letting Ezra’s family know, she applied to become a living donor."
'We couldn't be more thrilled': Downtown LRT stations to play symphony recordings (CTV) EDMONTON STORY Lovely "Symphony music will begin playing throughout downtown LRT stations thanks to a pilot program introduced by the City of Edmonton and the Winspear Centre. LRT patrons waiting for their train will now hear recorded audio sessions from the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO). Annemarie Leenhouts-Petrov, president and CEO of the Winspear Centre and ESO, said she 'couldn't be more thrilled' for patrons to hear the curated playlist of ESO's song recordings."
Lanny McDonald brings Stanley Cup to Calgary police officer who helped save his life (CBC) CALGARY STORY #ThankYOU "Former Calgary Flames co-captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald surprised a city police officer who helped save his life earlier this year by paying him a visit with the Stanley Cup in tow. Const. Jose Cives performed chest compressions on McDonald at Calgary's airport [...] after the 71-year-old collapsed while returning from the NHL's all-star game in Toronto."
'We go everywhere together,' says man who took baby goat on a cross-Canada road trip (CBC) CANADIAN STORY #DontLetHimGetYourGoat "Jimmy the goat may have been shunned by his mother, but he's got friends and fans across the country. The five-month-old critter has just returned from a two-week road trip from St. Stephen, N.B., to Edmonton and back with his owner, best friend — and surrogate mother — Hector Aubertin."
Calgary immigrants can now get help at the airport as soon as they land (CTV) CALGARY STORY So cool. So Calgary. "Immigrants arriving in Calgary through the Calgary International Airport can now head to a new booth as soon as they land for help getting settled. The booth – called the Immigrant Arrival Centre – is a place where new immigrants and refugees can ask questions and seek support immediately upon their arrival. While it will support all newcomers, the booth was created in response to the influx of Ukrainian nationals coming to Calgary and the surrounding area."
Meet Bubbles, a rare pink grasshopper now living in a London family's home (CBC) LONDON STORY Christine still hates grasshoppers. (I think they are cute...and...crunchy). "Natalie Sansone and her family are 'not usually bug people' but the family has welcomed a rare pink grasshopper into their northeast London, Ont., home after finding it hopping across their driveway. Sansone and her husband, Ryan Seed, were walking home from school with their 3-year-old and 5-year-old [...] when Seed spotted the pink grasshopper in front of the house."
From 'adelantado' to 'hyporcheme': Spelling bee ends in high-stakes spell-off (CBC) #CrazyKids "Bruhat Soma, a 12-year-old from Florida, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after a blistering spell-off that saw him spell dozens of obscure words correctly."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

Take a look inside the now complete BMO Centre expansion (CBC) CALGARY STORY Finally, we have a convention centre scaled to the ambitions of our city. "At long last, Calgary's BMO Centre expansion at Stampede Park is officially complete — just in time for the 2024 Calgary Stampede. The $500-million project makes it the largest convention centre in Western Canada. After six years of planning and work, the finished centre is now one complete piece of the future Culture + Entertainment District."
Water main break in northwest Calgary triggers Alberta Emergency Alert, supply in critical state (CBC) CALGARY STORY I fear we will be seeing more of these in the coming years. "A water main break that left hundreds of homes without water [...] has triggered an Alberta Emergency Alert warning that Calgary's water supply is in a critical state. The provincial alert [...] said the water main break along 16th Avenue N.W. has affected the city's ability to provide water to communities and ensure adequate water is available to support emergency fire suppression. 'All residents and businesses must conserve water. Do not shower or bath. Do not wash dishes, or run appliances that use water,' the alert said."
Mathematician refuses $1 million and several awards for his work leaving everyone baffled (Upworthy) "Professionals often do their jobs to help society and enhance their skills. Society, in turn, rewards them for their noteworthy contributions. While this reward is offered as a form of appreciation and recognition, Grigory Perelman, a Russian mathematician, declined. The man known as a 'mathematics genius' refused a $1 million award, per The Guardian. The Clay Mathematics Institute offered the prize to Perelman in 2010 for solving a century-old problem set by French mathematician Henri Poincaré."
Climate change altering the face of Canadian mountaineering (Globe and Mail) CANADIAN STORY Sad. "The Abbot Pass hut stood for decades in a rugged saddle between two iconic peaks, overlooking the limpid turquoise of Banff National Park’s Lake Louise – a destination for alpinists from around the world until the ground melted beneath it and forced its closure. University of Calgary researchers have now used a century’s worth of entries from the hut’s log to illuminate how climate change is erasing historic climbs, making others more dangerous and altering the face of Canadian mountaineering."
U of A rises 15 places to rank among world’s top 100, fourth in Canada in latest QS rankings (Folio) EDMONTON STORY Congrats UofA! "The University of Alberta has risen to rank among the world’s top 100 universities in the 2025 QS World University Rankings — continuing an upward trend in international post-secondary institutional rankings. Ranked 96th in the world and fourth in Canada, the U of A moved up 15 places compared with last year’s global ranking in a pool of 1,503 published international institutions and 30 Canadian schools."
Average Alberta beef farmer making less than $50,000 after costs, says new report (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Makes you wonder why someone would want to be a beef farmer. "Higher prices for steaks and burgers this barbecue season don't mean big profits for beef farmers, according to a new report from the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy. The report says that in the last 30 years, the average beef farmer hasn't made more than $50,000 in profits annually, even though the average beef farm's asset base is more than $2 million. 'The fact that the [cost of] sirloin steaks is very high in the grocery store, that's got a lot to do with the cost of getting the sirloin steak there,' said report author Derek Brewin."
When Hydropower Runs Dry (New York Times) #TheIrony "Global pollution from electricity generation was set to fall last year, thanks to the growth of renewable energy. Then came the droughts. Hydropower, the biggest source of renewable energy in the world, was crippled by lack of rain in several countries last year, driving up emissions as countries turned to fossil fuels to fill the gap. To cope with the electricity shortfall, China and India turned to coal plants, and Colombia to natural gas."
The Making of a Beast: Entering a new world of fire (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This is a fascinating (and terrifying) book. It was on the New York Times top ten books of 2023. "The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire — known as The Beast — was the costliest disaster in Canadian history, causing almost $10 billion in damage. It forced the biggest evacuation our country has ever seen — 90,000 people — amid scenes that could've been pulled from a Hollywood disaster movie."
Lightning-caused wildfires burn the most area in Canada, and could be more common as the climate warms (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "Early last June, a powerful storm descended on southern Quebec, leading to lightning strikes in quick succession across the vast forest north of Montreal. Given the hot, dry conditions at the time, the strikes quickly turned into scores of wildfires that overwhelmed fire crews and quickly spread through the region."
Tom Cochrane, Sarah McLachlan and More Inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (Exclaim) CANADIAN STORY #LoveThemAll Congratulations. "The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) has announced its class of 2024 inductees: Tom Cochrane, Sarah McLachlan, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, and Québecois legend Diane Tell."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

How the Guinness Brewery Invented the Most Important Statistical Method in Science (Scientific American) Beer and statistics. Something for every nerd.
11 Old-Timey Curse Words That Make You Sound Like Yosemite Sam (Cracked) Thunderation!
The Importance of Developing and Maintaining Your Social Fitness (Art of Manliness) Often very neglected, especially by men.
How I learned to plan better (and what to do when your head doesn’t get lists) (LifeHacky) Cool little web app btw.
Always in a Hurry? Here’s Why You Need To Slow Down (Ryan Frawley) What is the maximum speed of your kayak?
Strategy & Scale (Playing to Win) A new term (for me): Growth Share Matrix.
My AI-Powered Productivity Setup for 2024 (My Learning Journal) A cool setup.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

New SAIT Campus Centre receives $30-million gift from Taylor Family Foundation (Calgary Herald) Congrats! ViTreo is proud to be working with SAIT to support its fundraising efforts. "One of Calgary’s most philanthropic families is giving $30 million to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology to create a new state-of-the-art campus centre. Dr. David Ross, president and CEO of SAIT, said the facility — to be named the Taylor Family Campus Centre — is a significant addition."

$1 million donation to help upgrade x-ray suites at Royal University Hospital (Saskatoon Star Phoenix) SASKATOON STORY "A million-dollar donation will help change the way X-ray imaging — the most utilized diagnostic procedure — is performed at the largest hospital in Saskatchewan, the Royal University Hospital Foundation says. Royal University Hospital Foundation and BHP on Monday announced $1 million in support from the mining giant to transform x-ray imaging."
Ronald McDonald House celebrates $1.25 million donation from ARC Resources during charity golf tournament in Grande Prairie (My Grande Prairie Now) CALGARY STORY Congrats! ViTreo is proud to have been able to support Ronald McDonald House's fundraising planning. "Ronald McDonald’s Calgary House is set to enjoy a $1.25 million donation from ARC Resources Ltd. and officials say the donation will have a 'wide-reaching' impact on residents in communities across Alberta, including Grande Prairie. Officials say as ARC operates in Calgary, Grande Prairie, and Dawson Creek, the organization is the largest donor recognized in the Energy Wing."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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Vincent DuckworthJune 7, 2024Comment