Here’s a story about the old days of radio. In 1924, there were all kinds of stories about life on Mars. Might the beings living there be trying to communicate with Earth? An American radio astronomer named David Todd wanted to find out.

He and a partner came up with a way that was supposed to intercept radio signals coming from Mars and then print out the radio waves on paper. There was one catch, though. For this to work, all Earthly radio stations had to fall silent for five minutes at the beginning of each hour for three consecutive days: August 21 to 24, 1924.

And it actually worked. Sort of.

Terrestrial radio silence was achieved, and some radio wave scribbles were captured. Strangely, they resembled a crudely drawn face, something that was dutifully reported in the newspapers. However, Jenkins didn’t believe it meant anything, and he stopped his research, fearful that he’d be branded a kook.

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

For reasons that baffle me, people will pay good money to go to a gig only to throw stuff at the performers onstage. It can be bad today, but in the olden days, wow.

On October 10, 1977, some idiot threw a giant M-80 firecracker onstage during an Aerosmith show. Steven Tyler suffered a burned cornea, and guitarist Joe Perry had an artery in his hand rupture, sending them both to the ER.

Now imagine this. In 1989, Metallica played a show somewhere in Canada. The gig wasn’t sold out, so the stage was pushed closer to the seats. This meant that the upper deck was almost directly above the band. Then, during the show, someone from the upper deck started dropping darts on the band.

After four of these bombs, Metallica stopped the show, pointed to the upper deck, and both fans and security jumped on the perpetrator and roughly escorted him out.

What’s wrong with people?

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

People living in the southeast community of Lake Bonavista will soon need to ease up on the gas a bit with changes coming to speed limits in the area.

Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston posted the changes on his Facebook page, and it shows Lake Bonavista Drive will no longer be 50 km/h, but instead 40 km/h.

The limits on both Lake Crimson Drive and Lake Sylvan Drive will also be lowered.

Megan Smith lives on Lake Sylvan Drive and says she’s happy to see that her street has been marked to have its speed limit dropped.

She hopes the change will help ease her mind about her kids’ safety, especially when they get on the bus before school.

“I’m worried about traffic and the speed and people seeing them,” she says. “Our vehicles have been hit twice on the street and there’s constant movement.

“This is the busiest street going down to Lake Downs and it’s the only access to down there, so it’s a high traffic street and people just fly up and down that hill.”

Residents in Lake Bonavista should expect to see the speed limit signs start to change in the coming months, with everything completed by the end of the year.

According to the City of Calgary, the changes are part of its Vision Zero initiative aimed at reducing the risk of serious and fatal collisions.

The city says a “citywide review of more than 700 collector roads and community entrance roads” was conducted and as a result, it found nearly 300 locations where it’s believe a lower limit could help improve safety while also increasing consistency across Calgary.

In a statement, it says the review “considers how fast people are currently driving, with reductions focused on locations where operating speeds are already lower, including areas near schools, playground zones, parked vehicles, residential driveways and curves in the road.

“These speed limit changes are expected to be implemented by the end of the year.”

The city says there have been 21 fatal collisions so far in 2026 that have resulted in 25 deaths, six of them involving pedestrians.

Johnston’s office says more announcements will be made over the coming days for other communities in Ward 14 including Midnapore, Sundance, Walden and Mackenzie Lake.

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

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers added a quarterback from a trade with the Ottawa RedBlacks for the second time this season.

The Bombers completed a swap with the RedBlacks to acquire the rights to prospect Ty Pennington in exchange for American linebacker Kyahva Tezino on Wednesday. Tezino was on the Bombers practice roster after he had just joined the team a little over a week ago.

Pennington is in his senior season at Northern Arizona University. The six-foot, two-inch, 220-pound QB threw two touchdown passes in the Lumberjacks’ season-opening victory last weekend. He’s passed for 5,568 yards in just 25 collegiate games at Northern Arizona.

Pennington was the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2024 and has 34 career touchdown passes with only seven interceptions. He’s also rushed for 691 yards with 9 TDs.

Pennington goes on the Bombers exclusive negotiation list.

The Bombers also acquired quarterback Dru Brown from the RedBlacks back in June.

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

Police are investigating after a Surrey mosque was vandalized with hateful and threatening graffiti over the weekend, prompting condemnation from political leaders and renewed concerns about rising Islamophobia in Canada.

Members of the Fleetwood Islamic Centre arrived for early morning prayers on Saturday and discovered messages including “Get Out or Die” and “Islam is Trash” spray-painted on the building’s walls. Raw bacon was also left on a door handle and near windows.

“It was very concerning and scary,” said Asif Ali, general secretary of the Fleetwood Islamic Academy Society.

Ali said the incident has left members of the congregation worried about their safety.

“It does put us in concern. Now it has happened to us directly on our doorstep. It is very, very concerning,” he said, adding that there are fears the situation could escalate.

Long-time congregant Kasim Amarni said the graffiti has shaken worshippers, particularly seniors.

“They were so upset,” Amarni said. “The senior people started being afraid to come here alone.”

The incident comes amid ongoing concerns about threats and Islamophobic incidents targeting Muslim communities across Canada.

Steven Zhou, a spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said the vandalism highlights the need for broader action.

“It’s a time for a national reckoning and a strategy to deal with this problem,” Zhou said.

In a statement, B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma condemned the vandalism.

“My heart goes out to the Fleetwood Islamic Academy Society and the Muslim community who woke up to this hate incident and threats of violence,” Sharma said. “Islamophobia has absolutely no place in our communities.”

B.C. Premier David Eby and Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke also denounced the incident.

“There is no room in our city for Islamophobia or any kind of hate messaging, ever,” Locke said.

Police have released images of a suspect and a vehicle believed to be linked to the vandalism. Investigators say a man was captured on surveillance video in the area before the incident and may have been driving a small white four-door sedan.

Authorities are working to determine whether the vandalism meets the threshold of a hate-motivated offence.

Ali said the mosque’s leadership remains committed to fostering a peaceful community.

“We all want to live together peacefully and in harmony,” he said.

The society says it is taking steps to increase security at the mosque.

RCMP continue to investigate and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

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

A man was injured on the job after a tour vehicle rolled down a hill on the Columbia Icefield, about 120 kilometres south of Jasper, Alta.

RCMP and Pursuit, the company that runs the bus tours, said the man was the only one involved and no one else was on the all-terrain vehicle when the rollover happened around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

An Ice Odyssey tour vehicle operated by a Pursuit team member was conducting an operational maintenance check when the rollover happened, the company said.

Pursuit’s Canadian chief operating officer Stuart Back said the vehicle rolled backwards and down off the road.

The employee was taken to hospital with unknown injuries and is now recovering.

“He’s actually just been just been released from hospital, which is great news, positive sign,” Back said. “May require further care but is on the mend, so to speak, having just been released.”

The all-terrain Ice Odyssey vehicles — also known as “Fat Trucks” —are built to traverse the Athabasca Glacier at the icefield, which straddles the Alberta-British Columbia boundary.

The investigation has been handed over to Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety department.

Pursuit cancelled tours, but said they would resume Thursday but said Ice Odyssey tours will remain unavailable until September 8, at the earliest.

“We are gathering facts about the incident and carefully reviewing the circumstances with the applicable authorities. We will not speculate about the cause while that work is underway,” Back said.

Affected customers were offered refunds for their glacier tours or the opportunity to rebook, it added.

The Columbia Icefield Skywalk, which operates separately from the glacier experience, remains open.

Back in 2020, three people died and 14 were seriously injured when a different vehicle, an Ice Explorer bus, lost control and rolled in what a judge later determined to be caused by a “catastrophic braking issue.”

With files from Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

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

Preliminary budget documents obtained by Global News show the slew of funding requests from city departments under consideration by Calgary city council could result in a significant, double-digit property tax increase next year.

The confidential documents, which were presented to city council during a closed session meeting on July 28, indicate property tax revenue would need to increase by 20.2 per cent in 2027 to fund an additional $510 million in operating spending required to cover a number of budget requests from various city departments and partners.

Those funding requests, if approved, would also result in hikes over the ensuing years: 8.5 per cent property tax increase in 2028, a nine per cent increase in 2029 and an 8.9 per cent increase in 2030; the final year of this council’s four-year budget.

It remains unclear how significant an impact those property tax increases could have on monthly bills.

“It is important to recognize the significant gap between funding requests and available funding,” administration said in a cover report as part of the preliminary budget documents.

According to a slide deck presented to council during the closed session, the city has additional funding capacity of just $139 million for the various budget requests without the need to increase property taxes in 2027.

However, property taxes would need to rise 5.4 per cent next year just to maintain services.

Council spent much of the July 28 meeting reviewing more than 107 requests for funding increases from various departments, including Calgary Transit, Mobility, the Calgary Fire Department and the Calgary Police Service.

The report warned there is “a high likelihood” that funding requests will continue to exceed available financial capacity “if not sufficiently addressed through prioritization, scaling or reducing requests.”

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters Wednesday it was premature to speculate what the property tax increase will be and any figures “floating around” would be the total of all the requests in front of council.

“We’re going to consider everybody’s asks, but we’re going to be funnling that down specifically for essential infrastructure, specifically for public safety, and the investments to be able to catch up particularly in those areas that will save money in the long run,” Farkas said.

“Just because you ask for something, doesn’t mean you get it.”

Global News has learned city councillors were provided workbooks to rank and prioritize the budget requests in front of them, in which many aren’t expected to make it into the finalized four-year spending plan.

City councillors have already directed administration to refine the preliminary property tax increases after a narrow 8-7 vote following the July 28 meeting.

Although the council direction was confidential, it was included in the slew of documents obtained by Global News.

As part of that direction, administration will brief council on an updated review of the four-year budget that proposes a 15 per cent property tax increase next year, followed by a 12.5 per cent increase in 2028, a nine per cent jump in 2029 and a six per cent increase in 2030.

Couns. Rob Ward, Landon Johnston, Mike Jamieson, Dan McLean, Andre Chabot, Kim Tyers and Jennifer Wyness voted against.

Johnston, who represents Ward 14, told Global News he believes city council will need to cut up to $300 million from the preliminary spending to deliver a property tax increase Calgarians would deem acceptable.

“We’re always asking taxpayers to tighten the belt, now is the time for council to tighten the belt,” he said.

“There’s going to be some tough choices, but as long as we fund our police, fund our fire, fund our roads, fund our water, Calgarians will be happy with that.”

In a statement to Global News, a city spokesperson said work continues on the four-year budget with a focus on “the services and infrastructure Calgarians expect and rely on every day.

“Council provided funding guidance that administration requires to refine and prioritize budget requests that help form the creation of the budget document,” the statement read.

“These are not approved or final numbers and do not represent the tax change on an individual property owner.”

Spending on infrastructure is also expected to be cornerstone of the upcoming four-year budget, with the preliminary documents indicating around $21 billion in capital spending needs between next year and 2030.

“At present, known financial capacity does not exist to fund all needs,” the confidential report warned, with $13 billion of net new financial capacity for capital infrastructure spending.

The report notes that figure is “approximately three times” the financial capacity for new infrastructure spending in the previous four-year budget.

Following further refinements in September, the proposed four-year budget is expected to be released to the public on Nov. 10, with budget deliberations to begin on Nov. 23.

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

Quebec’s major political parties focused on government spending and public services Tuesday as campaigning entered its seventh day, with party leaders outlining competing visions on bureaucracy, housing affordability, education and infrastructure.

The Coalition Avenir Québec and Quebec Conservative Party both argued the provincial government should be streamlined, though they differed sharply on how far reductions should go.

Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime said Quebecers are frustrated with what he described as an inefficient government and renewed his call for cuts to the public service.

CAQ Leader Christine Fréchette countered that the Conservatives’ proposed reductions would come at the expense of public services.

“We’re talking about billions of dollars of reductions in government expenses without looking at the impact that it would have on Quebecers,” Fréchette said during a campaign stop.

Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal focused her campaign message on housing affordability, arguing home ownership is increasingly out of reach for younger Quebecers.

Ghazal said her party wants to help first-time buyers enter the housing market as prices continue to rise.

“Young people would like to stay here and now it’s impossible,” she said.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon highlighted education, calling for reforms aimed at improving Quebec’s graduation rate. Among the measures proposed by the party is encouraging private schools to accept more students from lower income families and the public system.

“One example is to have private schools making more space for students who are from more modest families,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Liberal Leader Charles Milliard used a campaign stop at a school to promote his party’s plan to invest in repairing aging infrastructure across the province.

“We need to repair Quebec,” Milliard said, pointing to schools and other public buildings he said are in poor condition.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure that is actually in a very poor state throughout (the province),” he added.

The competing announcements came as all five major parties continued efforts to win over voters in what remains a closely divided electorate.

For the full story, watch the video above.

 

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

Women in Winnipeg are being cautioned after a high-risk sex offender, Justin David Levasseur, was released from federal custody on Wednesday.

Levasseur also goes by several first names – including Jay, Norman, “J” and “J Star,” — according to a community notification issued by the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit.

Despite having participated in some treatment programming, the 36-year-old is still considered a high-risk offender.

Women, specifically, are at risk of sexual violence, according to police, who said Levasseur will live in a supervised setting in Winnipeg.

He’s described as being five-feet, nine-inches tall and roughly 236 lbs. He has brown eyes and black hair.

Levasseur has several tattoos, including one of the letter “J” on his neck and the letters “JL” on his left hand, and “Jay” on both shoulders. He has two other tattoos on his left forearm: a buffalo skull and headdress as well as his surname, police said.

The community notice said Levasseur has a lengthy criminal record that includes being convicted for:

• Sexual assault
• Forcible confinement
• Break and enter commit sexual assault
• Overcome resistance by attempting to choke
• Suffocate or strangle
• Assault cause bodily harm
• Assault (4 counts)
• Resist peace officer (2 counts)
• Escape lawful custody (2 counts)
• Obstruct peace officer (2 counts)
• Uttering threats
• Numerous breaches of probation, recognizance and court orders

Police have issued several warnings about him in the past, including in 2018 and twice in 2019.

His release from federal custody on Wednesday came after serving a six-year sentence handed down in November 2021. Levasseur was convicted of sexual assault and forcible confinement against a woman he met via Facebook.

“He forcibly confined her in his residence and committed numerous sexual assaults, assaults, and uttered threats against her,” police said.

Those incidents took place in February and March 2021.

The now-36-year-old also faced the courts in 2016, related to an incident three years prior, police added.

After breaking into a stranger’s home, Levasseur sexually assaulted and choked a woman who lived there while she was asleep in her room, and her children were sleeping in another bedroom.

Levasseur is subject to several conditions, including that he cannot drink alcohol or take drugs. He must also avoid contact with known criminals and drug users as part of his parole. He is also banned from contacting his victims or their families.

He is also subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition. Police said vigilante activity against Levasseur will not be tolerated.

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

The federal government is touting development at a northeastern Saskatchewan mine as a success story in the country’s bid to strengthen domestic production and supply of critical minerals amidst tumultuous trade conditions with the United States.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson spoke in Saskatoon on Wednesday at the offices of Eldorado Gold, which recently took over operations at McIlvenna Bay’s minerals mine.

Critical minerals, including copper, zinc, gold and silver, are being mined at the site, located approximately 246 km northeast of Prince Albert. The federal government said it believes the minerals are necessary as Canada works to strengthen its clean energy technology — with some being used in the production of electric vehicles.

“We have never been more clear-eyed that we must build for ourselves. We must harness our own resources, and we must be masters of our own destiny,” the federal energy and natural resources minister told reporters at a news conference almost one year after the mine was referred to the federal major projects office.

“McIlvenna Bay is strengthening Canada’s domestic supply of materials that underpin our economy.”

Hodgson was in Saskatoon to celebrate progress at the mine. Eldorado produced the site’s first copper concentrate in June, while its first zinc and pyrite concentrate was produced in July. The company expects commercial production to begin in the fiscal third quarter.

“This is monumental for this province,” Hodgson said, adding it is expected to be smelted in Quebec.

Buckley Belanger, Liberal MP for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, was also at Wednesday’s news conference. He noted roughly 380 people are currently working at McIlvenna Bay. Ottawa expects hundreds more jobs to be produced as work at the site ramps up, the government added in a news release.

Eldorado Gold said it hopes to ramp up processing capacity at McIlvenna Bay from 4,900 tonnes to 7,000 daily. It also expects to do more exploration work later this year, including approximately 14,000 metres of drilling.

“The success of projects like this is measured by more than just production volumes and investment dollars. It’s measured by the opportunities that it creates,” Hodgson said.

“We look forward to seeing what McIlvenna Bay achieves over the next year and how it continues to power Canada’s mining future.”

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