Flyers sign forward Travis Konecny to an eight-year extension

The Philadelphia Flyers introduced right now they’ve prolonged ahead Travis Konecny to an eight-year contract value a median annual worth (AAV) of $8.75 million starting with the 2025-26 season, in line with Normal Supervisor Daniel Brière. 
 
“Travis Konecny is an integral a part of the material of our group and we’re thrilled to have him underneath contract for the long-term,” stated Brière. “Travis has grown into a big chief on our group and he really embodies what it means to be a Flyer. His work-ethic, mixed together with his tenacity and expertise makes him a central determine for what we’re constructing in direction of, and his willpower for our future success speaks volumes about his dedication to our group and metropolis.”
 
“I couldn’t be happier to signal once more with the Flyers,” stated Konecny. “There’s such a shiny and thrilling future with this group and I can’t wait to be part of it for the subsequent 9 years and see what we are going to accomplish. I can’t thank all my teammates and workers members sufficient as a result of this chance wouldn’t be potential with out each one among them alongside the way in which. I can’t wait to get again to Philly in entrance of the most effective followers on this planet and I stay up for one other nice season!
 
Konecny, 27 (3/11/1997), tallied 68 factors (33g-35a) in 76 video games with the Flyers in the course of the 2023-24 season. He led the group in objectives, factors, shorthanded objectives (6) and game-winning objectives (5). He additionally led the NHL in shorthanded objectives and ranked tied for second in shorthanded factors (7).
 
Amongst his accomplishments this season, Konecny skated in his five hundredth NHL sport on Nov. 2 vs. Los Angeles, tallied his two hundredth NHL help on Dec. 15 vs. Detroit and recorded his four-hundredth NHL level on April 13 vs. New Jersey. He represented the Flyers on the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend, which was his second NHL All-Star look (2020). As well as, Konecny was the recipient of the Bobby Clarke Trophy because the group’s Most Invaluable Participant and gained the Toyota Cup, accumulating probably the most factors as “Stars of the Recreation” on the conclusion of this previous season.
 
Konecny’s management extends past the ice main by instance to assist members of the group. All through his profession, Konecny has made time to host a number of Make-A-Want recipients with particular on-ice experiences in addition to function an envoy for Flyers Towards Prostate Most cancers to carry consciousness to the significance of prostate most cancers screening. Main the cost, Konecny usually makes time to offer again to the Philadelphia group by hospital visits, toy drives and supporting key Flyers Charities fundraising initiatives.  
 
Over components of eight seasons within the NHL, all with the Flyers, Konecny has recorded 174 objectives and 226 assists for 400 factors in 564 common season video games, and has added eight factors (1g-7a) in 22 profession Stanley Cup Playoff appearances.
 
The 5-foot-10, 192-pound ahead was drafted within the first-round (twenty fourth total) of the 2015 NHL Draft by Philadelphia. He made his NHL debut and tallied his first NHL level on Oct. 14, 2016 at Los Angeles, and scored his first NHL objective on Oct. 25, 2016 vs. Buffalo.
 
Internationally, the London, Ontario native has represented Canada on the 2017 Males’s World Championship, posting eight assists in 10 video games to earn a silver medal. He additionally has represented Canada on the 2016 Underneath-20 World Junior Championship and the 2014 Underneath-18 World Junior Championship, the place he scored 4 objectives and one help in seven video games on the way in which to a bronze medal.

Steve Harvey Signs With CAA

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Harvey has signed with CAA for illustration.

Harvey is an Emmy Award-winning tv host, radio persona and motivational speaker, in addition to a New York Instances bestselling writer, businessman, and philanthropist.

He’s recognized for internet hosting Household Feud, Celeb Household Feud, Household Feud AfricaDecide Steve Harvey, and the nationwide radio present The Steve Harvey Morning Present. He was beforehand with WME.

With the idea that “God blesses you to change into a blessing,” the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Basis was established in 2010, and gives youth outreach companies in various communities that assist domesticate the subsequent era of accountable leaders by offering mentoring, instructional enrichment, psychological wellness help, and life transformation abilities.

Harvey started his profession as a slapstick comedian in 1985. He launched The Steve Harvey Present in 1997, which ran till 2002. His run on Household Feud started in 2010.

One in all his greatest comedy excursions was 1997’s Kings of Comedy Tour alongside Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and the late Bernie Mac. The act was so in style, Spike Lee turned the act into the characteristic movie, The Authentic Kings of Comedy, that was launched in 2000.

Alarming spread of H5N1 bird flu in US dairy cattle reveals cross-species transmission dangers

In a latest research printed within the journal Nature, scientists in the US report the spillover of the extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus in cattle throughout a number of United States (US) areas. They additional doc the detailed symptomatic outcomes of the ensuing illness in these bovine populations. Lastly, they use a multidisciplinary strategy incorporating epidemiological and genomic analyses to focus on that the virus’s evolution confers the flexibility to permit for not solely cow-to-cow transmission but additionally environment friendly multidirectional interspecies spillover, infecting birds, home cats, and even a raccoon in proximity to diseased cattle.

Research: Spillover of extremely pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus to dairy cattle. Picture Credit score: Studio Romantic / Shutterstock

Background

Influenza A virus (IAV) H5Nx is a extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus inflicting widespread respiratory sickness and subsequent dying in chicken populations throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and most just lately North America. First found in China in 1996, the colloquially termed ‘chicken flu’ has since developed into eight clades and three neuraminidase subtypes, with the H5N1 subtype 2.3.4.4b being its most prevalent and epidemiologically related consultant.

HPAI H5N1 is alarming, given its potential for spillover (cross-species infectivity). It has been reported to be transmitted from contaminated poultry populations into wild birds (2002), mammals (domesticated and wild), and even people (2003). The World Well being Group (WHO) documented 860 human infections and greater than 430 deaths since 2003 (fatality price ~52.8%).

The virus poses vital threats to ecology, financial system, and public well being, having claimed greater than 90 million chicken lives in the US (US) alone. The latest H5N1-associated morbidity occasion was that of dairy cattle throughout Texas (TX), New Mexico (NM), Kansas (KS), and Ohio (OH) between January and March 2024. Understanding the epidemiological and genomic underpinnings of this occasion could enable researchers to elucidate the etiology (origin) of the illness and put together for future outbreaks.

Influenza A Virus (H5N1/Chook Flu) Influenza A (H5N1/chicken flu) virus particles (spherical and rod-shaped; pink and yellow). Inventive composition and colorization/results by NIAID; transmission electron micrograph imagery is courtesy CDC. Scale has been modified/to not scale. Credit score: CDC and NIAID

In regards to the research

The current research paperwork the January-to-March 2024 morbidity occasion in American cattle throughout TX and its neighboring states. It makes use of an in depth multidisciplinary strategy incorporating scientific, epidemiological, and phylogenomic investigations to elucidate the pathophysiology of the virus and the genetic underpinnings of its spillover potential.

Researchers first obtained samples for the clinic-epidemiological analysis from 9 farms throughout affected states – TX (5 farms), NM (2), KS (1), and OH (1). Notably, the singular farm in OH was affected following the introduction of cattle (assumed to be wholesome) from the primary affected TX farm.

Knowledge assortment comprised nasal swabs, milk, blood buffy coats, and serum (n = 331). These samples have been subjected to real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain response (rRT-PCR) and viral metagenomic sequencing. Moreover, tissue from birds (great-tailed grackles, rock pigeons) and mammals (cats and raccoons) discovered lifeless at contaminated farms have been subjected to rRT-PCR evaluation.

Virus-shedding investigations have been performed to elucidate the supply and period of viral transmissions following preliminary infections. Excised tissues from cows, lifeless birds, and mammals have been subjected to histological examinations. Lastly, phylogenomic analyses have been performed to isolate the etiological supply of the viral pressure and the genetic underpinnings of its substantial spillover.

Research findings

Medical-epidemiological investigations revealed a number of illness signs in cattle, notably decreased feed consumption, gentle respiratory misery, diminished rumination time, lethargy, dehydration, irregular feces, and irregular milk manufacturing (20-100% discount in amount, yellow coloration, and thick consistency). Signs endured for 5-14 days. Nevertheless, milk manufacturing remained diminished for as much as 4 weeks.

All investigated rRT-PCR samples positively detected viral load, however virus shedding was the best and most incessantly detected in milk samples and mammary gland tissue. Notably, whereas virus shedding period investigations detected viral hundreds in milk samples on days 3, 16, and 31 post-infection, infectious virus shedding was solely noticed on day 3.

“Histological examination of tissues from affected dairy cows revealed marked adjustments consisting of neutrophilic and lymphoplasmacytic mastitis with outstanding effacement of tubuloacinar gland structure which have been stuffed with neutrophils admixed with mobile particles in a number of lobules in the mammary gland. Essentially the most pronounced histological adjustments within the cat tissues consisted of gentle to reasonable multi-focal lymphohistiocytic meningoencephalitis with multifocal areas of parenchymal and neuronal necrosis.”

Phylogenomic evaluation revealed that every one recovered viral sequences aligned with a novel monophyletic reassorted substrain of H5N1 termed B3.13, first found in a Canada goose in Wyoming (25 January 2024). This lineage was most intently associated to a sequence obtained from a deceased skunk in NM (23 February 2024). The similarity between viral genomes from investigated farms highlights circulation and cross-infectivity between their inhabitants, seemingly as a result of transportation and introduction of animals between these farms.

Conclusions

The current research highlights the potential of H5N1 viral spillover and cross-infectivity in each avian and mammalian hosts throughout farms within the US. The mammary gland was highlighted because the area with the best viral replication, with contaminated milk representing the most certainly transmission route. The novel substrain (B3.13) recognized herein is alarming given its spillover potential (to home and wild chicken populations and even different mammals – cats, and raccoons).

Whereas no human infections have been reported from under-study farms, gentle infections have been reported in the course of the research period from different farms close to the research space, highlighting the virus’s zoonotic potential and the potential for a human pandemic.

Protecting Measures

In keeping with pointers from the CDC, it’s essential to put on the beneficial private protecting gear (PPE) when working instantly or intently with sick or lifeless animals, corresponding to animal feces, litter, uncooked milk, and different supplies which may have the virus. The beneficial PPE contains fluid-resistant coveralls, a water-proof apron, a NIOSH-approved respirator (e.g., N95), properly-fitted unvented or not directly vented security goggles or a face defend, head cowl or hair cowl, gloves, and boots.

Correct procedures for placing on and eradicating PPE, corresponding to washing fingers earlier than and after utilizing PPE and disinfecting reusable PPE after each use, are important. Moreover, it’s suggested to bathe on the finish of the work shift, depart all contaminated clothes and gear at work, and look ahead to signs of sickness for ten days after working with doubtlessly sick animals or supplies.

Steve Harvey accused of ‘cheating’ on ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ by Anthony Anderson’s family

Within the newest episode of “Movie star Household Feud” on July 23, tensions ran excessive when Anthony Anderson’s household wasn’t too proud of Steve Harvey.

Going through off in opposition to Robin Thicke and his staff, the competitors was intense from the beginning. 

To kick off the sport, Anderson, 53, and Thicke, 47, began on the buzzer with the immediate, “Identify an animal a person feels like after they’re making love?”

Thicke shortly answered first with “Cow,” which was price 10 factors and was ranked No. 3.

Robin Thicke’s staff goes up in opposition to Anthony Anderson’s on “Movie star Household Feud” on July 23. Disney

Anderson adopted up with “A Bear,” which was additionally 10 factors, however ranked greater at No. 2, inflicting him to imagine he beat the “Blurred Strains” singer.

Confidently, Anderson prematurely declared, “We gonna play, Steve!” 

Harvey intervened, elevating his hand to cease him. 

“It’s a tie,” the host defined.

“It’s a tie!?” Anderson protested. “However my bear’s above his cow.”

Harvey clarified that Thicke buzzed in first, leaving Anderson’s staff to reluctantly settle for the tie.

When the “Blackish” actor somberly went again to his staff, his household appeared baffled and confused. His mother claimed they have been “dishonest already!” and one other member of the family threw up his fingers.

The Tuesday, July 23 episode of the sport present was extremely aggressive between the 2 groups. Disney

Anderson exclaimed, “It’s okay” — and it was. His staff gained the matchup ultimately, regardless of their preliminary blip.

Though they misplaced the Quick Cash spherical, they nonetheless gained $10,000 for his or her charity.

In one other current episode of “Movie star Household Feud” on July 16, chaos once more unfolded when a survey asking in regards to the best rappers of all time sparked widespread debate on-line.

In a head-to-head competitors to get the primary reply appropriate, neither Meghan Coach nor Tori Kelly have been profitable of their preliminary guesses, predicting that J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar would rank among the many high eight survey responses.

Anthony Anderson’s staff gained the July 23 matchup on ABC ultimately. Disney

Even Harvey was confused when Lil Wayne didn’t come up on the board both, saying, “Okay, y’all tripping now.”

The primary appropriate reply lastly got here from Kelly’s staff with Tupac Shakur, rating second on the board. 

The outcomes revealed Snoop Dogg because the best choice, adopted by Tupac, Eminem, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, The Infamous B.I.G., 50 Cent and Jay-Z.

Harvey jokingly apologized to the hip-hop neighborhood for the rankings, notably Jay-Z’s placement on the backside.

“We in Rhode Island once more? The place we at?” he questioned. “Jay Z’s final? What on this planet?”

The episode aired on Tuesday on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Disney

Followers expressed their disbelief within the outcomes on-line, questioning who the present polled for these solutions.

“It’s like they surveyed 100 individuals who have by no means listened to rap music and requested them to call essentially the most well-known rapper they know of,” one consumer commented on the viral YouTube clip.

“They need to actually think about the place they’re polling when asking these questions,” one other wrote.

“Jay Z quantity 8, Snoop above Eminem,… which people on this planet was this survey carried out?” a 3rd commented.

“We actually requested 100 Vermont residents to reply this,” joked one other consumer.

Human H5N1 cases in the U.S. are rising. That’s bad timing with flu season, bird migrations just months away

The sheer scale of the U.S. chook flu outbreak is difficult to fathom. 

Greater than 100 million farmed birds have been contaminated with H5N1 since 2022, adopted by roughly 170 herds of dairy cows, together with virus detections in greater than 200 different mammals — people included.

Colorado is now going through the nation’s first human outbreak, which has rapidly hit the double-digits. As of Wednesday, there have been 9 current circumstances at two poultry farms, plus one earlier case from a dairy farm. And whereas the most recent unfold could also be chicken-to-human, genetic sequencing suggests the virus pressure is just like the type of chook flu tearing by cow populations throughout greater than a dozen states.

The nation’s complete human an infection tally pales compared to the staggering case counts amongst poultry and livestock. There have not been any farm employee deaths, and no circumstances linked to dairy farms have popped up but in Canada, both.

But this new, uncommon cluster of human H5N1 circumstances could also be a harbinger of looming challenges to come back, all whereas the broader U.S. outbreak could possibly be surging uncontrolled.

The timing is way from ultimate, a number of scientists advised CBC Information, with farm employee infections ticking up mere months earlier than the return of the standard flu season, and the autumn migration of hundreds of thousands of untamed birds — giving this globetrotting virus numerous extra alternatives to evolve.

“We’re taking a look at, probably, an enormous outbreak that’s nonetheless increasing, and nonetheless rising, and that’s not containable,” warned virologist Angela Rasmussen, a researcher with the College of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Illness Group. 

“And that will increase the chance of increasingly more human circumstances, which in flip will increase the chance that this virus will turn into higher tailored to people.”

Delicate infections, no onward transmission

Officers first introduced the invention of a number of farm employee infections again on July 14, all linked to large-scale culling efforts involving H5N1-infected birds on an egg farm in Colorado.

Whereas there aren’t indicators of onward human-to-human transmission, sequencing from a type of circumstances confirmed the pressure is carefully associated to the virus spreading in dairy cows, which options previously-documented variations to mammals, the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention famous in a current replace.

Extra reassuring? To date, all of the human circumstances within the U.S. have been delicate infections, regardless of excessive H5N1 case fatality charges reported globally during the last 20 years. Some farm employees within the Colorado cluster had conventional flu signs of fever and cough, whereas others skilled conjunctivitis, suggesting the virus might have snuck in by their uncovered eye membranes somewhat than by the physique’s respiratory channels.

However given the small variety of identified human infections within the U.S. to date, and the bizarre transmission patterns that do not mimic how this virus would truly unfold person-to-person, “we must always put no inventory in any respect on what we’re seeing when it comes to severity,” famous McMaster College influenza researcher Matthew Miller, the director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Illness Analysis.

Greater than 100 million farmed birds have been contaminated with H5N1 since 2022, adopted by roughly 170 herds of dairy cows throughout 13 states simply this 12 months. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Virus mashup ‘might create a complete new beast’

If human infections hold rising into the autumn, in Colorado or past, specialists say the timing can be advantageous to a virus that is already confirmed fairly adept at placing all kinds of species. And a bunch of things, a number of scientists agreed, might present alternatives for H5N1 to higher adapt to contaminate and hurt extra human hosts.

For one factor, the dovetailing of heightened human H5N1 circulation and the return of seasonal flu strains might have dire penalties, stated virologist Tom Peacock, a fellow with the Pirbright Institute, a U.Ok.-based analysis and surveillance centre for zoonotic viruses.

“Out of the blue, a few of these employees who’re getting uncovered and contaminated [with H5N1] have an opportunity of being contaminated with seasonal flu. After which the poultry or dairy employee is appearing as the blending vessel.”

These situations would give the virus an opportunity to mash up its genetic make-up with different flu strains, probably permitting it to mix-and-match traits that might sharpen its skill to transmit person-to-person. It is a course of generally known as reassortment, and influenza viruses are significantly adept at it.

That genetic reassortment, Miller stated, “might create a complete new beast.”

There’s additionally a heightened threat of different farms changing into an infection websites within the months forward, Peacock warned, given H5N1’s penchant for spilling between species.

Already, mounting proof suggests heightened mammal-to-mammal transmission is happening even now. A peer-reviewed paper in Nature, revealed on-line Wednesday, checked out genomic sequencing for a bunch of contaminated species, together with cows, birds, home cats and a raccoon from impacted farms. 

The analysis group discovered proof of each “multidirectional interspecies transmissions” and “environment friendly cow-to-cow transmission” after seemingly wholesome cows from an affected farm had been transported to a facility in a unique state.

The opportunity of onward unfold into pig populations within the months forward is one in all Peacock’s largest considerations, since swine “have numerous viruses circulating inside them which can be derived initially from human seasonal viruses.”

“That is how pandemics occur: The blending of seasonal viruses with avian viruses or novel viruses,” he stated.

The 2009 swine flu pandemic is likely one of the most acquainted, ensuing from a mashup of chook, pig and human types of influenza A.

Chickens are pictured at a big poultry farm in British Columbia. Each in Canada and the U.S., wild and farmed birds have fallen sick with H5N1 in droves lately. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Miller agreed the potential for that taking place on U.S. pig farms is a rising risk. “We’re not doing sufficient proactive surveillance in these settings proper now,” he added. “It is a little bit irritating.”

On high of that, scientists count on one other wave of migrations might additional gasoline H5N1’s world unfold, with hundreds of thousands of untamed birds set to fly alongside north-south avian superhighways within the months forward.

“There are large alternatives [for H5N1] to recombine in new and surprising methods as these waves of migration happen,” Miller stated.

Human unfold stays hazy 

All these added variables might make the U.S. chook flu outbreak even more durable to include, heightening the chance to people and placing different international locations — together with Canada — on alert.

“Ultimately, if this continues, we could have viruses rising which can be higher tailored to people. What that is going to appear to be in apply, and whether or not that causes a pandemic, we do not know,” stated Rasmussen. 

Complicating issues? The complete extent of H5N1’s human unfold within the U.S. nonetheless stays hazy. 

A current serology examine in Michigan, which concerned testing blood samples from 35 farm employees who’d hung out round contaminated dairy cows, did not discover proof of prior infections — suggesting there may not be symptomless human infections flying below the radar. 

Nevertheless it’s only one small examine, from only one well being division. 

Simply days after early experiences of sick cows at a number of U.S. farms, H5N1 chook flu has been recognized in at the least a dozen herds throughout six states. Scientists are on excessive alert. However many say what worries them extra is whether or not this virus will leap to extra livestock — and pigs, particularly. (Ohio Division of Agriculture)

Colorado, in the meantime, is ramping up surveillance efforts to fight the rampant unfold of the virus, together with a compulsory order on Tuesday for weekly bulk milk-tank testing at dairy farms. Two days later, the state introduced the launch of a publicly-available dashboard to trace circumstances of avian flu in people, which will probably be up to date twice every week.

But knowledge from different states stays skinny because of patchwork testing efforts mired by bureaucratic roadblocks, which suggests the U.S. is probably going lacking each animal and human circumstances, specialists have warned for months.

“It is actually laborious to inform if Colorado was genuinely in a worse state than numerous different states, or it is simply testing and discovering stuff,” stated Peacock. “This is likely one of the main points with this outbreak: We do not actually have any concept.”

Requires farm employee vaccinations

In the meantime, Rasmussen says there’s “not likely clear decisive motion being taken” to clamp down on animal or human infections.

Alongside the necessity for heightened testing and surveillance efforts, she stated H5N1 vaccination methods concentrating on at-risk farm employees are one other software the U.S. ought to contemplate earlier than the scenario spirals uncontrolled.

To date, nevertheless, the CDC has not advisable vaccinations for any livestock employees.

Canada, Rasmussen stated, must also stay vigilant, regardless of no identified farm employee infections or any indicators of the virus showing within the nation’s milk provide. (Just one human case of H5N1 has ever been reported in Canada. The person died from chook flu again in 2014 following a visit to China, the place they probably obtained contaminated.)

WATCH | 20 years of warnings about H5N1 avian flu:

20 years of avian flu making headlines and sparking pandemic considerations

A take a look at CBC Information protection of H5N1’s unfold throughout the globe between 2004 and 2024, from early chook flu outbreaks in Asia to the continued unfold of the virus in dairy cows.

Different international locations are taking a unique strategy. In late June, Finland turned the primary to pursue proactive chook flu vaccination for any adults “who’re at elevated threat of contracting avian influenza attributable to their work or different circumstances.”

The U.S. ought to take be aware, Rasmussen stated, as sweltering temperatures in Colorado restricted employees’ skill to put on protecting gear whereas they had been killing contaminated poultry — leaving them susceptible to catching the virus.

With extra scorching months forward, and untold numbers of virus-carrying livestock throughout the nation, that situation might simply occur once more.

“It is a mistake to not provide some restricted vaccination,” Rasmussen stated. “Particularly given the present scenario.”

Whale surfaces and capsizes boat off New Hampshire coast

A breaching whale crashed into a ship off the New Hampshire shore Tuesday, capsizing the vessel and sending two fishermen into the water.

Video captured by 16-year-old Colin Yanger from a close-by boat reveals the second the humpback whale abruptly jumped out of the water and fell straight down on the 23-foot boat. Yanger, occurred to be recording after seeing the whale breach a couple of occasions prior, then helped the 2 fishermen out of the water with the assistance of his brother, he advised TV station WMUR.

Avid fisherman Ryland Kenney advised the Washington Publish he had taken photographs of the precise whale in that space not too long ago however that he had no worries a few shut encounter when he set out that Tuesday together with his pal, Greg Paquette.

RELATED STORY | How did 4 whales get beached alongside the East Coast in the identical week?

After recognizing the whale, nonetheless, the pair stated they maintained at the least a 50-foot distance from the mammal, however then it began swimming under their boat, he advised the Publish.

Then, whereas Paquette’s again was turned to the rear, Kenney watched because the whale got here out of the water together with his mouth “large open” earlier than closing down on what the fisherman advised the Publish he believed was the engine.

Kenney promptly jumped from the boat into the 55-degree water, however Paquette, who had on a life jacket, was thrown, forcing him to swim earlier than the boat fell on him, the Publish reported.

Neither of the boys nor the whale have been injured within the incident, and the vessel has been salvaged, the U.S. Coast Guard stated. The company thanked the “good samaritans” for his or her fast motion in rescuing the fishermen and urged the general public to report noticed whales to their native USCG command heart.

Danielle Smith cancels Medicine Hat Stampede appearances to focus on wildfire response

Smith was scheduled to be the honorary Stampede parade marshall, make a keynote deal with at midday and provides greetings for the skilled rodeo within the early night.

Alberta’s Jasper Nationwide Park and its townsite are below siege from two wind-whipped wildfires. One raced into the picturesque group in a single day, inflicting in depth injury.

Parks Canada says the hearth has triggered important losses throughout the city, and the social media account for Fairmont’s well-known Jasper Park Lodge says the flames had reached the lodge’s grounds.

As the hearth consumed extra gasoline, officers mentioned the air high quality dropped to harmful ranges, prompting hearth crews with out respiration equipment to flee to the close by group of Hinton.

Jasper, a postcard-perfect mountain city, is known for mountain climbing, snowboarding, kayaking and biking. It is usually residence to dozens of species resembling elk, mountain goats, cougars, lynx, black bears and grizzly bears.

The United Nations designated the parks that make up the Canadian Rockies, together with Jasper, a World Heritage Website in 1984.

Images on social media present lodges and different buildings wrapped in sheets of orange flame.

— with information from the Canadian Press

Why did a humpback whale capsize a boat? Here’s what really happened.

On this case, Schulman-Janiger says the humpback in query had been noticed feeding on Atlantic menhaden for a number of days within the Piscataqua River between Maine and New Hampshire—an uncommon prevalence for that space, she notes.

The Coast Guard was apparently conscious of the whale, the one one among its sort within the space, and had even issued notices to mariners in order that they might be careful for it, in response to Dianna Schulte, co-founder and director of analysis for the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation.

All of that stated, Schulman-Janiger says the boat operators seem to have finished nothing mistaken. Their engine was off, they usually weren’t making an attempt to work together with the whale. 

In areas the place baitfish (small, fast-breeding species) are concentrated, “humpback whales will gladly benefit from the simple meal and should have little regard for what’s on the floor, together with boats,” in response to a Fb publish from the New England/Mid-Atlantic division of NOAA Fisheries, “When feeding, humpback whales may be unpredictable and energetic on the floor.”

The best way to keep protected round whales

Happily, even touchdown on a human vessel wasn’t sufficient to discourage the humpback from feasting. Schulman-Janiger notes that studies from the scene recommended that after the encounter, the whale continued to feed for one more 4 hours.

Bell: Danielle Smith vows delayed tax cut for Albertans is now coming

‘There will probably be a tax lower coming ahead of we had initially anticipated,’ says Premier Danielle Smith

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We’ll get our revenue tax lower. Quickly.

The tax lower Premier Danielle Smith promised us.

Begin spreading the information. Learn all about it.

The tax lower. Final month, this scribbler requested concerning the tax lower. It was not nice.

In any case, Premier Danielle Smith’s social media is sort of a machine churning out how the provincial authorities books are so good, how the financial system is so good, how Alberta is so booming.

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Pardon me if many people aren’t feeling the growth. We’re not feeling something trickling all the way down to us.

Many people need the tax lower Smith promised. A few of us really want the tax lower.

And, till now, what we’ve got been advised is to attend.

Wait till 2026 for half the tax lower and 2027 for the opposite half.

However the tax lower was Smith’s first promise within the final election marketing campaign the place she talked about the price of residing and affordability and the way a tax lower would imply $760 a 12 months for a person and $1,500-plus for a household.

If Smith couldn’t make it occur, she shouldn’t have promised it.

Or she ought to have stated we’d solely get the tax lower if the planets aligned.

Alas, that’s not as attractive a kickoff to an election marketing campaign.

However the story doesn’t finish there.

This week because the premier mentioned some robust subjects, together with answering questions pitched in my final column, Smith revealed some excellent news.

“There will probably be a tax lower coming ahead of we had initially anticipated,” says the premier.

Really useful from Editorial

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Smith says she had to verify the tax lower wouldn’t ship the provincial authorities’s funds into the crimson, into deficit.

Smith says the tax lower is “substantial.” It’s $1.4 billion.

After all, Smith knew the price of the tax lower.

The premier explains how her finances boss Nate Horner “was nervous about what we’d expertise on this finances.”

Horner crunched the numbers and out popped a really small surplus, not as huge as the price of the tax lower.

Smith says her authorities needed to verify that they had sufficient money coming in to bankroll the tax lower.

Now Smith speaks of a surge in {dollars} coming into the federal government treasure chest from private revenue taxes.

Then there’s all these {dollars} from the oilpatch and with corporations paying off their capital prices they pay the next price of royalties to the province.

The premier additionally says there will probably be quite a lot of effort within the fall to chop wasteful spending so the tax lower might be delivered.

Souls within the authorities consider there might be an announcement of the tax lower within the fall and the lower might be felt on paycheques on this coming 12 months. The following provincial finances is predicted in February.

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Nate Horner, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance speaks to media at an embargoed Price range 2024 information convention previous to delivering the finances within the Alberta Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Edmonton. Greg Southam/Postmedia

Will we see the total tax lower or will or not it’s half a tax lower in 2025 and half a tax lower in 2026?

That call has apparently not been made however Smith seems like she would pay out the promise in full.

“If we will do it abruptly we’d love to have the ability to try this.”

However, the sight of the curler coaster of an up-and-down Alberta financial system appears to flash earlier than her eyes.

“I don’t assume anyone needs to be within the scenario we’ve been in traditionally the place we spend each single final penny of the windfall revenues that are available in and when the numbers don’t pan out the following 12 months now you’re operating $5 billion, $6 billion and $10 billion deficits.”

There may be additionally political actuality and as everyone knows politics is a blood sport.

In November, UCP members will vote on Smith’s management. The turnout to the social gathering gabfest in Crimson Deer is predicted to be huge and the tax lower is only one merchandise on a laundry listing of complaints.

Nate Horner, Smith’s finances boss, insists he needs to carry the tax lower ahead and says Smith is urgent on him to make it occur.

Horner provides he needs “to ship it as rapidly as attainable.” He needs “to expedite the method.”

“We’re going to verify we will stroll and chew gum. We’re going to do it whereas not borrowing to do it.

“We are able to do it and stability the finances if we do it good.”

rbell@postmedia.com

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Does Timothée Chalamet Really Sing In The Bob Dylan Film ‘A Complete Unknown?’

Viewers received their first take a look at Timothée Chalamet’s transformation into Bob Dylan for the upcoming biopic, A Full Unknown, which is able to hit theaters this December. Does Chalamet sing within the movie, and is that the actor’s actual voice within the teaser trailer?

From Searchlight Footage, A Full Unknown is directed and written by James Mangold (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Future), who penned the screenplay with Jay Cocks primarily based on the 2015 guide “Dylan Goes Electrical!” by Elijah Wald.

The movie is ready in New York within the early Sixties and follows “19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s meteoric rise as a folks singer to live performance halls and the highest of the charts — his songs and mystique changing into a worldwide sensation — culminating in his groundbreaking electrical rock and roll efficiency on the Newport Folks Pageant in 1965,” in accordance with the official description.

The star-studded solid additionally options Monica Barbaro as Dylan’s collaborator and former lover Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo — one other artist who dated Dylan within the early ’60s — in addition to Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Money, and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie.

Within the first official teaser, launched on July 24, the Wonka star sings part of Dylan’s “A Laborious Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” from his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. However is that the 28-year-old actor’s actual voice?

Does Timothee Chalamet Actually Sing In A Full Unknown?

Sure, that’s Timothée Chalamet’s voice in A Full Unknown’s teaser. He’ll lend his actual vocals for the anticipated Bob Dylan biopic, which will likely be launched in theaters in December.

When requested by Collider in April 2023 whether or not Chalamet was singing for the film fairly than having Dylan’s voice dubbed over, director James Mangold answered, “After all!” Chalamet additionally took singing and guitar classes to play the function, IndieWire reported.

ForbesTimothée Chalamet Charts His First Hit Single

This isn’t the primary time Chalamet has showcased his singing abilities in a movie. He sang within the 2023 film musical Wonka, which featured seven musical numbers. He contributed to the unique movement image soundtrack with songs like “You By no means Had Chocolate Like This,” “A World of Your Personal,” “Sorry, Noodle,” and “Pure Creativeness.”

The actor, who attended Manhattan’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia Excessive College of Music & Artwork and Performing Arts, additionally sang in 2019’s A Wet Day in New York. A video even surfaced of the rising star performing “Candy Charity” in a play at LaGuardia. Given his previous tasks and musical background, audiences can count on to see extra musical roles from Chalamet shifting ahead.

Take a look at the teaser for A Full Unknown to listen to Chalamet’s voice within the movie.