Fort Frances Times Online Edition - April 19, 2016

Natalie Panek, a rocket scientist, explorer, and speaker working on Canadian space robotics, talked to Fort High students in the school gym yesterday afternoon. She also offered a community presentation yesterday evening at the Townshend Theatre—sharing her inspiring message to dream big, dare to achieve the impossible, and stay optimistic.

The Rainy River District Festival of the Performing Arts opened its Piano division yesterday, adjudicated by Jane Petroni, who teaches piano privately in Winnipeg and through the Preparatory Department of the University of Manitoba.

In this final week of the Festival, the Piano division continues until Friday while the Instrumental division runs Thursday and Friday.

Piano

The Northwest Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the ratification of an agreement of local terms between it and the Northwest Occasional Teachers’ Local of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.

At 11 p.m. yesterday, Rainy River District OPP officers were conducting general patrols on the 1000 block of King’s Highway in the Town of Fort Frances.

The officers observed two motor vehicles travelling at a high rate of speed.

Two men—a 31-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont. and a 23-year-old from Guelph, Ont.—have been charged with racing a motor vehicle.

OTTAWA—Canada’s last Conservative defence minister says he’d look favourably on a proposal to join the United States’ missile-defence program.

Jason Kenney said the country seriously should consider the idea—should it receive a formal request from the U.S. to do so.

OTTAWA—Canada has yet to feel the full effects of mental health issues gripping people across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today as he pledged support to lower levels of government in combating the problem.

OTTAWA—The leader of the country’s national Inuit organization says his people also are dealing with devastating rates of suicide.

The “heartbreaking” suicide crisis in the First Nation community of Attawapiskat has become a touchstone moment for how mental health issues affect aboriginal peoples, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said yesterday.

OTTAWA—Newly-released data on youth voters suggests they neither were apathetic nor disengaged in the last election—and instead may be primed to become the most powerful voting bloc in the country.

MONTREAL—Two members of a Quebec family were among those killed during a massive earthquake in Ecuador on the weekend, a relative confirmed today.

Guy Laflamme told Montreal radio station 98.5 FM his nephew’s wife, Jennifer Mawn, and their son, Arthur Laflamme, were among the 350 reported dead after the roof of a residence collapsed on them.

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Given a pair of quick goals by Patrick Sharp, the Dallas Stars pushed the cruise-control button.

Jason Pominville and the Minnesota Wild raced past them—and surged back into the series.

MIAMI—Jose Fernandez stomped off the mound after an arduous second inning—cursing and smacking himself on the head with his glove, which sent his sweat flying.

Blame the outburst on a lack of control.

The Miami Marlins’ ace endured early wildness before regaining his command and his winning touch at home to beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 last night.

TORONTO—If the Toronto Raptors walked onto the Air Canada Centre floor last night under a cloud of question marks, they delivered an emphatic answer.

Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points and hauled down 15 rebounds as the Raptors bounced back from a horrible Game 1 to throttle the Indiana Pacers 98-87, evening their post-season series at a game apiece.

NEW YORK — Calling it an issue of victims’ rights, the Manhattan district attorney urged Congress to pass legislation that would require tech companies to give law enforcement a way to access information on encrypted phones and other devices.

WASHINGTON — Vice-President Joe Biden acknowledged “overwhelming frustration” with Israel’s government on Monday and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has led Israel in the wrong direction, in an unusually sharp rebuke of America’s closest ally in the Middle East.

MANTA, Ecuador — Rescuers are in a race against time to find survivors from a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake as the death toll from Ecuador’s strongest earthquake in decades has risen above 400.

On Monday, teams from Ecuador and neighbouring countries fanned out across the country’s Pacific coastline to look for the dozens of people still missing.

BEIJING — China is marking National Security Education Day with a poster warning young female government workers about dating handsome foreigners, who could turn out to have secret agendas.

NEW YORK—Dinosaurs were in decline long before an asteroid strike polished them off about 66 million years ago, a study says.

It’s the latest contribution to a long-running debate: did the asteroid reverse the fortune of a thriving group of animals?

Or were dinosaurs already struggling—and the disruptive effects of the asteroid pushed them over the edge to extinction?

NEW YORK — Dinosaurs were in decline long before an asteroid strike polished them off about 66 million years ago, a study says.

NEW YORK — Carnegie Corporation of New York on Tuesday announced 33 winners of its prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellows in recognition of their proposed research on an array of topics in the social sciences and humanities.

Breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day is practically mandatory. Which is fine. But that doesn’t mean what you serve needs to be the same old plain pancakes. After all, Mom is special. Her breakfast should be, too.

Breakfast in bed is a love language in our home. Anytime there is a special occasion to celebrate ‚Äî a birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, whatever ‚Äî the rest of the family follows an unspoken agreement to meet early in the kitchen to craft a breakfast-in-bed tray.