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- Saskatoon transportation committee postpones land expropriation talks for BRT stations
- Democrat Rebecca Bennett defeats GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th District
- Six flights across Europe grounded due to bomb threats, including two from the UK
- Bomb threats disrupt multiple flights in Europe with no explosives found
- Mark Carney announces start of intensified trade negotiations with U.S.
- Poll closing times for the 2026 midterm elections across the U.S.
- Five people rescued after drifting for three months in the Pacific Ocean
- Investigators examine weather factors in Florida Learjet crash tragedy
Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
What’s the Latest: Saskatoon transportation committee defers expropriating land talks for BRT stations
Saskatoon’s transportation committee has deferred discussions regarding land expropriation for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations due to stalled negotiations with landowners at six sites. The committee decided to allow for further consultation with the property owners, while city administrators indicated they would begin outreach as soon as Wednesday.
The transportation committee will reconsider land acquisition options for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations at its next meeting in early December, following a deferral prompted by ongoing negotiations with property owners. Construction of the BRT system, which includes 94 stations, began in September 2024, with 41 stations completed and an expected launch of the system in 2028.
Saskatoon’s transportation committee has postponed discussions on expropriating land for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations, following stalled negotiations with landowners; city administrators will reach out to the property owners starting Wednesday. The committee will reassess the issue at its next meeting in early December, with assurances that this deferral will not significantly delay the overall BRT project scheduled for launch in 2028.
What remains unclear — It is not clear how the city plans to address the concerns raised by business advocates regarding safety and access at the planned BRT station sites.
Saskatoon transportation committee postpones land expropriation talks for BRT stations
Saskatoon’s transportation committee has deferred discussions on land expropriation required for the construction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations due to ongoing negotiations with landowners. The decision follows recommendations from city administrators who have identified the need for more property to accommodate the new bus platforms, which include concrete pads and electrical infrastructure.
Terry Schmidt, the city’s transportation and construction general manager, indicated that consultations began in 2024, during which the city acquired ten properties with an expectation to purchase five more. Schmidt noted, “Talks with landowners at six sites have stalled. Many do not want to sell, while others have stopped responding.” The proposed parcels range in size from 30 to 57 square metres, with four located on 22nd Street West and two on 8th Street East.
At the meeting, Karen Kobussen, CEO of the Saskatoon West Business Association, expressed concerns regarding access and potential social issues related to bus stations. She remarked, “Businesses shared concerns about general access alongside loitering, littering and traffic safety,” emphasising that solutions had not been effectively addressed by the city. Henry Chan, also representing the association, characterised the city’s approach to expropriation as “heavy-handed,” questioning whether all options had been sufficiently explored.
Schmidt explained that potential alternatives, such as building stations on city-owned land, were considered substandard, lacking the necessary amenities for transit users. Council member Robert Pearce, who motioned for the deferral, referred to expropriation as a “nuclear response” and requested more time for outreach to landowners. “We need to assess whether there is a desire to continue negotiations,” he stated.
The committee plans to reconvene at the beginning of December to further evaluate the situation, with Schmidt stating that this delay will not jeopardise the overall BRT project timeline, which anticipates completion of the BRT system by 2028. Construction of 94 BRT stations commenced in September 2024, with 41 completed and an additional 14 expected to finish by year-end.
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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