When there is a live music event, we often refer to it as a “gig.” Why? I’ve heard several explanations, and here’s the most recent, which comes from the musical history of New Orleans.

It begins with a term used in illegal lotteries, which moved to horse racing. A two-number betting combination was known as a “saddle,” while a three-number combo was called a “gig,” after a type of horse-drawn cart. When musicians were paid for a show, they got paid with whatever was left over after the venue took its cut. This was dicey because a club may or may not pay.

Getting money at the end of the night was like a “gig” bet at the track. You might or might not get paid. Therefore, playing a club show also became known as a “gig.”

Sidebar: The term “gig” may also refer to a show played using a horse-drawn cart as a stage that would be hauled from place to place.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

We all know how difficult it can be to get tickets to a big concert. You do everything right, but the gig is sold out within seconds of going on sale. It’s so frustrating. Maybe, then, it’s time for a different approach.

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo is a shrine that’s more than a thousand years old. It is called Fukutoku, a calm place in the midst of a very busy part of the city. But this Shinto shrine is visited for a very specific purpose. Like other such shrines, people come to ask for kami—good fortune and good health—from the Shinto gods.

But Fukutoku attracts people with a very special wish: The ability to get concert tickets. Superfans from all over Japan visit the shrine and pray that they’ll have luck getting to a show by their favourite artist.

Does it work? Fukutoku believers say “yes.”

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Skiantos was one of the first wave of punk bands in the 1970s. They were formed in 1975, but decided that they weren’t as angry as some of their peers, so comedy—the kind that draws from Futurism and Dadaism—became a driving part of their whole existence.

When it came to their music, it wasn’t exactly what you’d call polished or professional, but that was the point. The rawness, the out-of-tune vocals, and the weird lyrics were all designed to provoke the audience. Sometimes, for added effect, they’d throw vegetables into the crowd

Their most infamous gig was at the Bologna Rock Festival on April 2, 1979. For their set, they brought out a kitchen, a table, a TV, and a fridge. They boiled some spaghetti, sat down, ate it, and left, without playing a single note. It was…baffling.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

We’ve been brought up on TV crime shows and police procedurals. In about 45 minutes, a crime is committed, evidence is gathered, suspects are identified and arrested, sent to trial, and either convicted or acquitted. In real life, though, it doesn’t work that way.

When we learn of a horrific crime, it occupies the news cycle for days, weeks, and even months as the case plays out. But then, inevitably, something else comes along, and we move on before the story of that crime is complete.

Has the case gone cold? Did anyone ever get arrested? Was there a conviction? If so, what happened at the trial? Did anyone go to jail? And if someone is in prison, what’s their status?

In short, was justice served? Much of the time, we don’t know because no one ever follows up. And if they do, these new details get lost in the constant deluge of information that comes at us every day.

This is episode 67 of Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. Over the life of this show, we’ve talked about dozens of cases, most of which have been resolved. But some of these tales just keep on going.

Time for some updates, resolutions, and conclusions to some very infamous crimes from the world of music.

In addition to the  podcasts, you can hear Uncharted on these Corus radio stations (all times local):

• Toronto: AM 640 (4-5am)
• London: 980 CFPL (4-5am)
• Vancouver: 730 CKNW (1-2am)
• Edmonton: 630 CHED (1-2am)
• Calgary: QR77 (770 AM) (1-2am)
• Winnipeg: 680 CJOB (1-2am)

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

There has been a concerted effort on the part of phone manufacturers to move people away from wired headphones to wireless earbuds. When was the last time you saw a phone with a headphone jack? People seem to have had enough of this.

There’s a growing resurgence in the use of wired headphones. Why? A couple of reasons.

First, using wired headphones is a kind of statement against everything being digital. Practical, time-tested tech is winning over technology that’s constantly being updated, often with mixed results. Another reason could be the audio limitations of Bluetooth. If you want to listen to songs in their full resolution, you can’t with Bluetooth because the bandwidth is too narrow. The only way to hear the full glory of a digital song file is with a wired connection.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

It’s just another day at the office for eight-year-old Ben the border collie as he takes to a soccer pitch.

He is one of two dogs with Stirling, Ont.-based Border Control Bird Dogs that are keeping the FIFA practice pitch at Centennial Park geese-free until the end of July.

“They’ve spent multi-million dollars on putting the facility up and then putting an international-standard soccer field there,” said the geese management company’s owner, Gareth Williams.

“So, they don’t want the geese coming in and eating the grass and fowling the grass when we have all these athletes from around the world coming for this tournament.”

Specializing in geese and waterfowl management, Williams’ team of border collies is trained to use ‘hazing’ to encourage the birds to leave sites like golf courses, cemeteries and sports fields.

Now, Ben and one other bird dog, Sally, are playing a role in the World Cup.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to be involved — even in a small part — with such a big football, or as you guys call it ‘soccer’, tournament,” Williams said.

These dogs have been bred with an instinct to herd, which they’re now using to help on defence throughout the Toronto matches.

While it takes dedication, working hard isn’t too different from playing hard for Ben.

“Ben will absolutely work all day,” said Williams.

“From the second I’m up in the morning he’ll be at the car waiting for me to open up the trunk so he can jump in…He will work all day and when he comes home he will still want to go again.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – Even as the Toronto Raptors pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in their first-round playoff series, general manager Bobby Webster and head coach Darko Rajakovic spoke throughout the post-season and afterwards about an ongoing rebuild.

That youth movement will continue in the NBA draft on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Toronto holds a pick in the first and second rounds. Assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said in a news conference on June 16 that the Raptors intend to take the best available players with the 19th and 50th overall picks, but that doesn’t mean Toronto isn’t looking for particular attributes.

Specifically, they need a true centre and more depth at point guard.

Seven-foot centre Jakob Poeltl was the only player on the Raptors last season over six-foot-nine and, at 31, was also the second oldest player behind 40-year-old Garrett Temple. The difference between Poeltl and Temple, however, is that Poeltl was a starter and Temple was the last off the bench, if he entered games at all.

Poeltl missed 36 games last season due to injury, averaging 10.7 points, seven rebounds and two assists over that stretch. Although he was cleared to play in Toronto’s post-season series versus Cleveland, he often had his minutes limited, forcing Rajakovic to put out a smaller lineup against the Cavaliers’ dominant bigs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

It’s a situation potentially made worse if six-foot-nine backup centre Sandro Mamukelashvili decides to exercise the player option on his contract this summer. If he decides to leave the Raptors, he could command significantly more than the $2.8 million Toronto is set to pay him if he stays.

Some draft options around the 19th pick that could add some size include six-foot-eight power forward Allen Graves (Santa Clara), six-foot-11 power forward/centre Chris Cenac Jr. (Houston), or six-foot-11 centre Henri Veesaar (North Carolina).

Predicting who will be available around the 50th pick is harder with more variables, but six-foot-11 centre Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia), six-foot-eight forward Tobe Awaka (Arizona) and six-foot-eight forward Tobi Lawal (Virginia) could all be available.

Immanuel Quickley is a lock to return as Toronto’s starting point guard next season, but the 27-year-old missed most of the Raptors playoff run and his absence was keenly felt. All-star forward Scottie Barnes shouldered most of the playmaking responsibilities, with second-year guards Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead taking turns stepping into the starting rotation with mixed results.

Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), Bennett Stirtz (Iowa), Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama) could all be taken around the 19th pick, with Tre Donaldson (PG), Milos Uzan (Houston), and Noam Yaacov (Oostende, Denmark) all possibilities around the 50th selection.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

RCMP confirm they’re investigating reports of “financial irregularities” following an audit of expenses from Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore’s office.

The report from Halifax’s auditor general, Andrew Atherton, highlighted legal and consulting services that violated the municipality’s procurement policy.

Atherton released two audit reports on Monday: one looking into capital budgeting, and the second into the Office of the Mayor expenses.

He presented the reports to the Audit and Finance Standing Committee meeting on Monday afternoon, and told the committee he wasn’t initially going to audit the mayor’s office, but concerns were brought to him earlier this year.

“It was not part of our original audit plan but came to us through concerns identified by senior management within the municipality about some transactions which originated in the mayor’s office. I decided we would dig into these four transactions quickly this spring,” he said.

Two of the transactions were related to “external” legal fees, one was the hiring of an HR consultant, and the fourth was the hiring of a speechwriter.

Atherton said the mayor has since paid back the legal fees, around $7,700 in total, from his own personal funds.

He told the committee he had also forwarded his findings to police.

“There were elements of some of them that moved past the line of clearly just ‘not compliant’ and started to make me ask whether they were a little worse than ‘not compliant,’ Atherton told reporters afterwards.

“It’s not my job to assess whether something is illegal. So I felt it was important to bring in folks who could do that and asked police to have a look.”

In response to the audit, Mayor Fillmore said he accepted the report’s conclusion and told reporters his staff has now undergone procurement training.

“The staff is now up to speed on current policy,” he said, adding that there was a lot of change going on at the time of these incidents and they were short-staffed at the office.

He pointed out the fees for legal services that were audited were related to two separate code of conduct complaints launched against him — and were not personal legal issues.

“The complaints for which I sought legal advice were brought against me as the holder of the office of mayor,” he said. “These were not personal legal expenses.”

Fillmore said he only learned that the matter was referred to police today when the auditor general revealed it during the committee meeting.

He said he still has full confidence in his staff, including his chief of staff, Joanne Macrae, who was mentioned in the audit several times. Macrae worked with Fillmore during his time as MP For Halifax, and during his transition into the mayor’s office in the fall of 2024.

“We were both experiencing at the same time coming into a new bureaucracy and learning the rules very quickly as we went and have had a lot of learning along the way and this is one of them,” he said.

Atherton said the report offers no recommendations because “really the only recommendation I could make here is comply with the procurement policy.” He said a broader procurement audit will be undertaken by his office.

Report’s findings

The report looked at four transactions, and concluded that all four were noncompliant with HRM’s procurement policy.

Two of the transactions were fees paid to bring on consultants.

The first was a consultant to assist in the review and reorganization of the mayor’s office in late 2024. The audit found that senior staff at the time said they did not agree that this should be an alternative procurement, and that it should actually go through the competitive process.

“Further, they stated that the Office of the Mayor communicated a preference for the vendor to them early in the process,” the audit found.

The initial value of the procurement was valued at $50,000 but it later nearly doubled.

“When the scope of the engagement rose to over $90,000, the contract with the vendor was not amended accordingly,” the audit also found.

The second procurement was valued at around $14,000 for a speech-writer for the mayor’s 2025 state of the municipality address to the Chamber of Commerce.

According to the audit, this procurement didn’t follow a competitive process and the mayor’s staff said the speech-writer had been used by the previous mayor for similar work so they approached the vendor without considering procurement methods such as a tender or using a vendor roster.

The audit noted there was also no contract for this work and the payment was arranged through a cheque approved by the mayor’s chief of staff.

Two of the transactions were external legal fees.

The first was dated June 2025 for $1,425 was caught by senior management before it was processed. It was “ultimately approved for payment as a one-time exception by the municipal solicitor, who also reminded the mayor’s chief of staff of the authorization requirement in writing.”

An invoice dated November 2025 for $6,272 was approved by the mayor’s chief of staff, Macrae, and charged to “Other Goods and Services.” The Office of the Mayor does not have a budget for legal services, the report added.

“The requisition was processed by municipal staff, and the invoice was paid in December 2025, even though external legal expenses, as noted previously, should have been authorized by the municipal solicitor,” the report said.

“Management indicated to us that they have provided additional training to staff on the need for pre-approval of external legal services by the municipal solicitor.”

According to the report, the acting CAO required the mayor to reimburse HRM for the charges and the mayor has done so for both invoices.

Concerns referred to police, “past my comfort zone”

“I referred my concerns to Halifax Regional Police for a couple of these because I felt that this was a little past my comfort zone,” Atherton told the committee.

“And they felt a little too close to the situation so they passed it along to the RCMP and as I understand it the RCMP are doing their investigation.”

In a statement to Global News, an RCMP spokesperson confirmed they received a referral from the municipality’s own police force — Halifax Regional Police — on May 22 “due to a potential conflict of interest.”

“(T)he Nova Scotia RCMP’s Commercial Crime Section began an investigation into reports of financial irregularities at an address on Argyle St. The incidents under investigation occurred between June 2025 and February 2026. The investigation remains ongoing; there’s no further information to share at this time,” wrote Allison Gerrard.

–with a file from Mitchell Bailey

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Damaged furniture and personal items are strewn across the lawns of Pierrefonds, Que. after heavy floodings left many residents sorting out what can be kept and what has to be thrown in the trash.

The Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough in Montreal saw an estimated 150 to 170 mm of rain fall in about two hours on Saturday.

“The power went out, but the sump pump didn’t work, so there was no way to stop it,” said Stephen Lister, a resident who saw bags of books and other items destroyed.

Rainfall left streets flooded, cars underwater and hundreds of homes damaged in the West Island and South Shore.

Thousands of Hydro-Quebec customers were initially left without power. More than 500 still remain without electricity on Monday, a majority of which were in Pierrefonds.

It’s not the first time the community has seen such dramatic weather, with the sewers being overburdened for the second time in two years.

“It was a catastrophe,” said Jason Klien, another resident who saw his basement filled. “I saw the hail coming because I could hear it and two seconds later we had water coming in our basement, it filled up fast so it was this one was just won by Mother Nature.”

Environment Canada previously reported between 100 to 150 mm in some other parts of Montreal.

That amount of rain has Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada stressing the province and municipalities have to find preventative measures.

“The traditional infrastructure of a city will not respond. It cannot respond to what we saw — the rain that we got this weekend,” Martinez Ferrada said during a news conference Monday.

“(The) city and the municipalities, we have to work to be big sponges, making sure that all the rain that we get doesn’t give the pressure of our infrastructure that gets into people’s basements.”

The mayor said she plans to work with the Communaute metropolitaine de Montreal (CMM) and provincial government to get a mandate that allows the city to model rainfall and determine which areas are most at risk.

One such option Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough Mayor Jim Beis suggested is finding a way to “canal” the water in a way that avoids homes.

But he noted for some residents with downslope driveways or a foundation that could be damaged, the water could still “infiltrate.”

“The water has saturated everywhere. So what happens, the water table pushes up from the ground and any time you have a crack in your foundation, it’s going to infiltrate,” Beis said. “So water has already seeped in, but you don’t see it.”

Quebec has invested in helping communities adapt to climate change, Premier Christine Frechette said during an unrelated news conference Monday, including offering financial help to people who are not insured. This includes provincial compensation of up to $385,000 for individual homeowners and $485,000 for businesses.

“I’m thinking about all these families and persons who have been affected this weekend, it is a very dramatic situation for many of them,” she said.

For residents in the affected communities, some feel they’re getting little help.

Daniel Khoury, also of Pierrefonds, saw the home he was set to move into get about six feet of water. He said while the city is trying to respond, he needs more action from the provincial government.

“I know what it is to be flooded; I know the pain and suffering that people go through,” he said, referencing the 2019 flooding he experienced.

“I think it’s time the government of Quebec sees this as a priority and makes changes, gives funding, so that the city (of Montreal) can act … They can’t if there’s no funding.”

As communities wait for action, residents like Stephen Lister are trying to cope with the loss of memories.

“I don’t know, what are you going to do? Thirty-five years of stuff, gone,” Lister said.

—with files from Global News’ Brayden Jagger Haynes

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

After a heavy rainfall, one might expect to see debris floating down the North Saskatchewan River — but entire structures are a less common sight.

On Monday morning, however, an entire dock with five metal boats attached was spotted drifting downstream through the city.

Global News spoke with a resident who, while crossing the Walterdale Bridge around 11:45 a.m., spotted the unusual debris.

Three of the boats were upright while two had capsized and were being dragged along in the current.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said it was notified of the dislodged dock at 10:50 a.m. and its jet boat unit was deployed to monitor it. EFRS said City of Edmonton park rangers then took over.

The dock and boats appear to be property of the Edmonton Rowing Club, which has boathouse and boat launch in Buena Vista Park in the west end. Global News has reached out to the club for more info.

The river is flowing high and fast after a weekend of relentless heavy rain.

As of noon, the river was flowing around 1,050 m³/s through Edmonton — about double the speed recorded 48 hours earlier. The river also rose about 1.5 metres over that time period.

Water levels may rise an additional 0.5 m before the river peaks late Monday or early Tuesday, Alberta Environment said in its advisory Monday afternoon.

A high streamflow advisory is in effect for the North Saskatchewan River and its tributaries between Rocky Mountain House and the Saskatchewan border.

Alberta Environment said water level increases of one to 1.5 metres are possible at various points along the North Saskatchewan, but as of Monday afternoon no river-related flooding was expected at this time.

The Edmonton region received more rain this past weekend than the area typically gets in the entire month of June — and more precipitation is in the forecast.

On average, Edmonton receives 69.9 mm of rain in June. As of early Monday morning, Environment Canada had recorded 95 mm of rain in the core of the city and 73 mm out at the Edmonton International Airport, after the rain began falling Saturday.

It’s been a wet month. So far this June, Edmonton has recorded 189 mm of rain — the most in more than 60 years.

The city is now tied with tied with 1965 for second-wettest June on record — and is expecting to surpass it before month’s end, as more rain is expected next weekend.

The June rainfall record is held by 1914, when 216.5 mm of rain was recorded in the city.

More to come…

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.