ViTreo

View Original

Weekly News Recap: January 31, 2025

Vincent Duckworth

Weekly News Recap: January 31, 2025

It's getting harder to find volunteers to help run events and support essential services in Alberta's rural communities, in part because volunteers are growing older. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. -- Mahatma Gandhi

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Violins of Hope instruments feature on new album commemorating 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation (The Strad) CALGARY STORY #Beautiful "Violins of Hope from The Daniel Pelton Collective, in collaboration with Calgary’s National Music Centre, comprises three compositions that capture the profound experiences of the Holocaust, and aims to serve as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed and a call to ensure they are never forgotten."

  • VIDEO: CBC listener whose pitch made it on air opens dream restaurant (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY #DreamsDoComeTrue "In June 2023, Uber driver Inder Raj Gill wrote to CBC's On The Coast about an idea for an original TV show inspired by his real-life efforts to open a restaurant in Metro Vancouver, called Those Indian Guys. Now, Gill has gone ahead and opened his dream eatery in Surrey, with the aim of offering a healthier take on Indian food."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment a ballerina danced on a ship's bow in the Antarctic Ocean (CBC) #Wow "Mathieu Forget and Victoria Dauberville recount the moment they collaborated to capture her unique ballet performance on the bow of a cruise ship off the coast of Antarctica."

  • VIDEO: Victoria 12-year-old builds AI robot companion for lonely kids and seniors (CBC) VICTORIA STORY #CoolKid "Standing at about 30 centimetres tall, AIRO is the young Victoria, B.C., resident's latest creation: an AI-powered robot programmed to compassionately engage with humans and respond to their needs. Alex, who is diagnosed with autism, created AIRO to be a companion for those experiencing loneliness. It's an issue that's personal to him, as he says he struggled with making friends prior to middle school."

  • Trained dogs working inside hospitals help ease burnout among health care staff (NPR) I heart this. "Nurses wheel a very pregnant mom past. 'We're going to bring a baby into this world safely,' Fraser said, 'and off we go.' She said she feels ready in part thanks to a calming moment she had just a few minutes earlier with some canine colleagues. A pair of dogs, tails wagging, had come by a nearby nursing station, causing about a dozen medical professionals to melt into a collective puddle of affection."

  • Pizza driver gets $2 tip in snowstorm. Outcry leads to $30,000 more. (MSN) Cool story. "Stephanoff lives with his grandmother, and he uses his earnings from delivering pizzas to help pay the bills. He doesn’t have his own car, so he drives his grandmother’s to make deliveries."

  • Solar-charging backpacks are helping children to read after dark (CNN) Smart! "What started as a small-scale project with some discarded cement bags, a sewing machine, and a solar panel, has become a business attracting charities and fashion brands from around the world. Last year, Soma Bags ('Reading Bags' in Swahili) sold 36,000 solar backpacks to people across Africa, providing an invaluable energy source for when the sun goes down."

  • Bills fans raise over $100K for diabetes research to support Ravens player who dropped crucial pass (NBC) "The Baltimore Ravens praised the good sportsmanship and charitable efforts. 'Shout out to Bills Mafia for showing support to our guy Mark Andrews and donating to the @BreakthroughT1D organization, which works towards curing and improving the lives of those dealing with Type 1 diabetes,' the team posted to X. Donors who left comments on the GoFundMe page also offered Andrews supportive words, some noting that if anyone understood the pain of a loss, it was Bills fans."

  • B.C. photographer saves owl after seeing it hit by a car while he was taking its picture (CBC) BRITISH COLUMBIA STORY "He called [...] for advice and was told the best thing to do was to put it in a small dark box and take it out in a small room to see if it could fly [...] Zelt checked on the owl, and it flew out of the box and onto a tennis racket sitting in his entranceway. 'I took a couple of pictures and got them back down, put them back in the box, and I thought I was just so inspired that it might survive.' When it became clear that the owl had regained its strength, he made plans to release it the following day. When he arrived at the spot, he opened the box, expecting the bird to fly away immediately. 'It kind of just looked at me, like for about five seconds, almost, almost like it was thanking me. It was a really beautiful moment.' "

  • VIDEO: 'Time wasn't on our side': Rescuers save moose trapped in icy N.Y. lake (CBC) #Heroes "Forest rangers rescued a moose trapped for about two hours in an icy lake in Hamilton County, N.Y., Jan. 16, 2025. Officials cut the ice with a chainsaw to allow the moose to get out and guided it out of the water."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. With fewer people to draw from, rural Alberta is feeling the pinch for volunteers (CBC) ALBERTA STORY We have been seeing this for some time. "Rural municipalities in Alberta say it's getting harder to find volunteers to help run events and support essential services. University of Alberta researchers who spoke to 27 municipal officials across the province learned there has been a persistent decline in recent years in the number of people able to volunteer. The findings are in a report titled Declining Rates of Volunteerism in Alberta and the Increasing Threat to Rural Municipalities."

  2. Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu (CBC) It has been a bit of a menu bloat in recent years. "Starbucks is planning to cut its food and beverage offerings by 30 per cent over the course of this year, aiming to simplify operations and speed up service. It's not yet clear what items will be taken off the menu, but in a conference call with investors on Tuesday, chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said that dialing back the menu would free the coffee giant up to ensure they have 'the right food offerings in the morning.' "

  3. VIDEO: Weak loonie, ballooning insurance costs drive Canadian snowbirds to sell Florida homes (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "[Many] snowbirds are scrambling to sell their homes in Florida as a weak loonie and high insurance costs drive a Canadian exodus from the sunshine state. Canadians made up nearly one-quarter of foreign sellers in Florida between April 2023 and March 2024 versus 11 per cent in the same period a year earlier, according to a National Association of Realtors report."

  4. VIDEO: 5 things to know before camping in Jasper National Park this summer (CBC) JASPER STORY "[Camping] will look different in the park this year, as forests and the Jasper townsite recover from a devastating wildfire last July. With more than 32,500 hectares burned, the wildfire was the most devastating to hit the national park in more than a century and about one-third of buildings in the townsite were destroyed."

  5. No reopening date set for Telus World of Science Edmonton after fire (CTV) EDMONTON STORY #Terrible "Telus World of Science Edmonton (TWOSE) has announced it will be closed indefinitely because of a fire at the facility earlier this week. TWOSE says while the fire that broke out [...] was small, it caused significant smoke damage throughout the building. No permanent exhibits were damaged and the fire did not impact the structural integrity of the building, but the closure will allow for extensive cleaning and removal of smoke residue and particles."

  6. VIDEO: What is DeepSeek? The Chinese OpenAI rival sparking chaos in tech markets (CBC) It is faster, cheaper, and uses fewer resources. "There's a new player in AI on the world stage: DeepSeek, a Chinese startup that's throwing tech valuations into chaos and challenging U.S. dominance in the field with an open-source model that they say they developed for a fraction of the cost of competitors. DeepSeek's free AI assistant — which by Monday had overtaken rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application on Apple's App Store in the United States — offers the prospect of a viable, cheaper AI alternative, raising questions on the heavy spending by U.S. companies such as Apple and Microsoft, amid a growing investor push for returns."

  7. VIDEO: Lil'wat artist near tears as he unveils medals to be used in Prince Harry-led Invictus Games in B.C. (CBC) BRITISH COLUMBIA STORY Congrats Levi "Levi Nelson had to hold back his tears when he opened the cedar box containing the medals for the 2025 Invictus Games. The artist from the Lil'wat Nation designed the hardware, and seeing it for the first time brought a rush of emotions."

  8. 'Gulf of America' shift won't be the first time Google Maps has changed names depending on your location (CBC) Ummm..."Google has said it will be updating its maps to change the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America" for people using the search engine across the United States, just as soon as the federal government updates its own official sources. The tech giant promised to make a similar change for the tallest peak in North America, reverting the name for Mount Denali in Alaska back to Mount McKinley."

  9. VIDEO: Peavey Mart closures a hit to rural customers and local economies, says Weyburn councillor (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This is so sad. "It's the end of an era, as the Canadian retailer Peavey Mart is preparing to shutter stores across Canada [The] national farm goods retailer announced it would begin closing all 90 of its locations across the country. Peavey Mart, a retailer with western Canadian roots stretching back to the 1960s, has 12 Saskatchewan stores listed on its website, with locations in Saskatoon, Humboldt, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Kindersley, Swift Current, Regina, Assiniboia, Yorkton, Weyburn and Estevan."

  10. VIDEO: Winspear Centre short $33.4 million to cover expansion costs (Global News) EDMONTON STORY "[The] expansion of one of Edmonton’s most renowned arts venues is more than $30 million above available funding. The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is now trying to find ways to cover the gap."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. Why Don’t We Americans Eat Our Meals Like the British? (The Haven) How do you use your fork and knife?

  2. Reading in a Foreign Language: The Key to Fluency? (Language Lab) I have tried this. It works.

  3. How to Work On Your Business (The Startup) This is a constant struggle for me.

  4. The Hidden Importance of Wasting Time (Personal Growth) Another fabulous and right-on-the-money article by John Weiss.

  5. What we can learn from the 7 worst design examples ever (UX Collective) There are some bad designs here.

  6. IN PHOTOS | Canadian Geographic's Canadian Photos of the Year chase the light (CBC) These are stunning.

  7. A Watch of Nightingales: The Origin Story of Collective Terms for Animals (The Cellar Door) Ha! A rascal of boys.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Berry Family Donates $3.5 Million To NMU; Running Total Passes $10 Million (Radio Results Network) "Northern Michigan University alumnus John Berry Jr. has continued the philanthropic legacy passed down by his grandfather and father, whose entrepreneurial success heading the largest Yellow Pages advertising agency in the United States inspired them to give back to future generations in ways that reflected their core values, including education."

  2. Los Angeles fires: Dodgers owner, team foundation announce $100 million donation to spearhead recovery efforts (CBS) "As Los Angeles begins to rebuild following devastating wildfires, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation are spearheading a new fundraising initiative [Dodgers] minority owner Magic Johnson announced the Walter family and the team foundation would be donating $100 million to lead recovery efforts in the area."

  3. Yuill family donates $5 million to MHC health education (Medicine Hat News) MEDICINE HAT STORY "Medicine Hat College will see an enhanced capacity and programming for Healthcare students, thanks to a $5 million dollar pledge from the Yuill Family Foundation."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo President & CEO Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by ViTreo Group Inc. of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. ViTreo Group does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ViTreo Group Inc. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate.