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.
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.
High school students in Red Deer are stepping up to support one of their own as he faces a rare cancer diagnosis. Meghan Cobb has more.
Students at Red Deer’s Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High School are stepping up to help a classmate fighting cancer.
Grade 11 student Lachlan Ross was born with a genetic condition causing him to be him non-verbal and have complex medical needs. For the past three years, he has attended Notre Dame’s Foundations program, designed for students with complex needs to gain the skills needed to transition out of high school.
Despite being unable to communicate using his words, Lachlan has gained a reputation as someone with a bubbly personality who loves to laugh.
“He’s a party,” says Lachlan’s teacher, Alison Snow. “He loves to be with people and laugh; he has a great sense of humour. He just brings light.”
But this year, Lachlan hasn’t been at school much. After months of increased pain, difficulty walking and extensive testing at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Lachlan was diagnosed with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. He’s facing six months of chemotherapy with a surgery in the middle.
“They will hopefully be able to salvage his limb,” explains his mother, Colette Ross. “If not, he will be getting an amputation, and we’re just hoping the chemotherapy can really get rid of the cancer.”
It means even more visits to the hospital and time away from the classroom he loves so much.
“Watching him go through all these challenges is heartbreaking,” says Ross. “But seeing his smile, and that he’s so strong and brave through all of this makes it so much better.”
It’s his smile and bravery that inspired his classmates to help the Ross family through this latest obstacle.
Lachlan’s treatment is only offered at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, which means the family will be making regular trips south. Currently they have to take Lachlan out of his wheelchair and get him into the car for each drive, a process that is difficult and painful.
They’re hoping to buy a wheelchair-accessible van, but it’s a vehicle that comes with a price tag up to $100,000. They are looking for a used van but have had to launched a GoFundMe to help cover the cost.
That is when Notre Dame students sprang to action.
“We wanted to get the school involved,” says Addison Bradley, another Notre Dame Grade 11 student. “To show our support for Lachlan, to show that we love Lachlan and we want him to get better.”
With the help of Alison Snow, Bradley and a group of students launched “Loonies for Lachlan” during the final week of school before summer holidays. On June 9th, students could pay a loonie to wear a hat for the day, get hair tinsel, a face tattoo or buy bubble gum. A few days later, all proceeds from the student-led coffee cart were collected for the Ross family.
In total, $2,000 was raised to help get Lachlan a van.
“Students donated from a dollar up to $20,” says Bradley. “It’s great to see that they care so much for Lachlan.”
Snow says it’s been touching to watch students from outside the Foundations Program come to Lachlan’s aide.
“The community has really come together and shown faith in each other,” says Snow.
The Ross family is still searching for the perfect van they say will be life-changing. And as they focus on the road ahead, Lachlan’s community at Notre Dame is excited to welcome him back as soon as he is ready to return.
“It’s his Grade 12 year next year,” says Bradley. “It’s mine as well. I want to cross the graduation stage with him.”
Jaden Bradley has been keeping his eye on the Toronto Raptors, and now they’re going to get to see him up close too.
Bradley was selected 50th overall by the Raptors in the second round of the NBA draft on Wednesday night. The six-foot-three guard said he’s been following Toronto’s defensive evolution closely and hopes to slot right in.
“Definitely paying attention, obviously, to Jamal Shead, Scottie Barnes, the other guys as well,” said Bradley in a video conference call shortly after he was drafted. “They guard on the other end, I feel like that’s big. That wins games.”
Shead is an obvious comparable to Bradley.
Both were drafted in the second round, with Shead going 45th in 2024. Both are defensive specialists who earned the Big 12 Player of the Year award, with Shead being honoured as a member of the Houston Cougars in 2024 and Bradley getting it this year with the Arizona Wildcats.
“I played against Shead at Houston, so just to see his professional development, he was a monster in college, but he’s really turning it on offensively,” said Bradley, who also played against Raptors forward Gradey Dick when he played NCAA basketball.
“(Shead’s) coming along, so just can’t wait to pick his brain, learn from some of the best.”
The 22-year-old Bradley averaged 13.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 39 games with the Wildcats (36-3 overall), one of the best teams in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball last season.
Bradley believes playing for the competitive U.S. collegiate team has prepared him for the NBA.
“Kind of a similar role (in Toronto) but obviously there’s going to be some changes, so I’m just excited,” said Bradley.
Bradley was also named to the first team All-Big 12, the conference’s all-defensive team, and was the Big 12 tournament’s MVP.
“He’s a perfect example of the four-year player who had a ton of success in college and rode out his entire eligibility and is a very accomplished player coming into the NBA,” said Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman. “He’s going to be one of these guys that has pretty much seen it all, a little bit of a seasoned veteran as a rookie.
“We’ve had a lot of success with those sorts of guys in the past.”
Toronto took 19-year-old power forward Allen Graves with the 19th overall pick in Tuesday’s first round. Graves averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Santa Clara Broncos last season.
He also had 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in his only NCAA season, earning him the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year award and Sixth Man of the Year award.
Tolzman said that Toronto will also explore signing some undrafted free agents.
“Every team is, and I know the guys are in the back working on it right now, just seeing who’s out there,” said Tolzman in a video call from OVO Athletic Centre. “So much of that is very much summer league and camp driven, like the two-way spots and those lower-tier roster spots that we have to just kind of prepare for the competitions with.
“How that impacts the bigger team with like the 15-man roster, it’s kind of hard to say at this point.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.
WATCH ABOVE: Two powerful earthquakes have struck in Venezuela; one was 7.2 in magnitude and just a minute later a 7.5 magnitude hit. The epicentre's are near Venezuela’s third largest city Valencia and its capital Caracas.
Back-to-back powerful earthquakes struck off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday evening, collapsing buildings and sending panicked residents into the streets.
The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes roiled the region, with buildings evacuated in cities as far away as Brazil’s Amazon about 1,700 kilometers away.
In a brief address to the nation late Wednesday, acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the earthquakes caused damages in several states, but she did not give any figures of homes and buildings damaged, injures or fatalities.
The earthquakes damaged the country’s main airport, Simón Bolívar International Airport, severely enough to lead to its closure, she said, adding that classes are being canceled for several days.
“We urge our population to remain calm,” Rodríguez said. “We urge unity.”Rodríguez also asked all health care professionals in the country to report to hospitals to assist anyone who was injured.
In the state of Falcon, Gov. Victor Clark said 32 people had been hospitalized and more than four hours after the earthquake there were still 15 people trapped.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially said the first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, later revising that to 7.2, and its epicenter was west of the community of Morón, located along the country’s Caribbean coast, about 168 kilometers west of Caracas. The quake had a depth of 22 kilometers.
The USGS reported an even larger 7.5-magnitude earthquake just a minute later. The second quake had a depth of 10 kilometers and its epicenter was 16 kilometers southwest of Morón.
The quakes, among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century, struck shortly after 6 p.m. People evacuated swaying buildings in the capital Caracas, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street. Dust columns could also be seen in two neighborhoods of the capital, where restaurants and other businesses are typically busy.
People walk amid debris after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
‘We all had to leave our houses’
People remained on the streets for hours, even after sunset. Some sat on the ground hugging their pets as dust gathered around them. Collapsed buildings, toppled electric poles and debris blocked streets. Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone signal.
“It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.
The lack of cellphone signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families, particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the country during its protracted crisis.
“May strength, serenity, and solidarity prevail among us in the face of this difficult time,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said from exile on X.
Impact felt throughout Venezuela
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the quake could be felt in several states. The Altamira neighborhood in Caracas had “alarming situations” with collapsed homes and buildings, he said, suggesting people were injured in the earthquake and asking motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
“We understand that some people may be desperate, but we are acting according to protocols to activate aid and rescue efforts to help those who need it most,” Cabello said on state television. “Be very careful with children and the elderly; call each other and check that no one has been harmed.”
He also urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage some structures.
“The building really shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong,” Caracas resident Roberto Gamas said. “We were walking and it was tossing us around. Everything in the apartment fell. Well, thank God we were able to get out.”
Expressions of support posted on social media
Reaction pouring in swiftly on social media.
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, in exile after leaving Venezuela in December, took to to X to send prayers and wish strength to Venezuelans.
“May strength, serenity, and solidarity prevail among us in the face of this difficult time,” she wrote on X.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele expressed solidarity with Venezuela following the earthquakes, saying his country’s “heart is with the people of Venezuela during these difficult times.”
“We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela,” Bukele wrote.
Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida said her “thoughts and prayers” were with Venezuela and expressed support for families affected, those still waiting for answers and first responders.
“The strength of the Venezuelan people has been tested time and again,” she wrote. “I have no doubt they will face this moment with the same resilience, courage, and hope that have carried them through every challenge.”
Earthquake impacts the region
Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapá in Brazil’s Amazon were evacuated, according to reports on TV Globo.
The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or injuries. The Colombian Maritime Authority in a statement said the country’s Caribbean coast is at no risk of tsunami.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Virgin Islands. Authorities in the Dominican Republic also issued one for the island. Another alert for Puerto Rico was quickly lifted.
Strong earthquakes are unusual in Venezuela.
While the country sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates make earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America. Along the Pacific coast — in Mexico and Chile, for example — earthquakes are frequent. The two countries sit along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” which is responsible for 90% of earthquakes, according to the USGS.
The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or injuries. The Colombian Maritime Authority said in a statement that the country’s Caribbean coast is at no risk of tsunami.
In Brazil’s Amazon, buildings in the cities of Manaus, Belem and Macapá also were evacuated.
A Vancouver dog owner has a warning for other pet owners, after a coyote ran off with and killed his chihuahua. Kristen Robinson reports.
A Vancouver dog owner is mourning the loss of his beloved dog, Lulu.
“Sunday evening, my friend Mo and I were walking my dog through Trout Lake here, where I walk my dog two or three times a day,” Travis Olson told Global News.
He said Lulu, a four-and-a-half-pound Chihuahua, was off-leash, but he usually walks her that way and it was still light, so he could see his surroundings clearly.
After walking around for about 20 minutes, it was starting to get dark and they headed for home, but he said there were lots of people around and Lulu wasn’t far from them.
“We heard a squeak, and I looked over and just could see her light being shaken back and forth,” Olson said, explaining that his dog had a flashing light on her harness.
“And I started screaming, and I started chasing after them, and chased as fast as I could, obviously. And I just watched that coyote take my dog in that flashing light all the way to the lake.
“And her cry stopped, and the light disappeared, and I knew she was dead.”
He said Lulu was his closest companion, his emotional support animal and he was always excited to come home to her.
He rescued her when she was a year old and had her for the past nine years.
“I just can’t help but think that she deserved better,” Olson said.
“She was sweet. She loved other people. She loved everybody. She loved the other dogs. She was known in this park and in the community.”
Angela Haer, a commissioner with the Vancouver Park Board, told Global News that they are working to get signs to warn people about the coyote activity.
“We are working closely with the B.C. Conservation officer and city staff to get signage,” she said.
“We’re gonna be collaborating with them and to make sure that people are a little bit more aware of coyotes.”
Coyotes fall outside of the City of Vancouver’s regulations as they are protected under the Provincial Wildlife Act.
Olson said he wants Lulu’s legacy to be one of awareness.
“I want awareness,” he said.
“I want people’s animals and children to be safe.”
He added that he has received an outpouring of support from the community and has heard from others about close encounters in the city with coyotes.
“I’ve been calling on the Conservation Officers Society to be more diligent in things like signage, simple signage,” Olson said.
“There is not a single sign in this park warning people of coyotes.”
Security video records as a catalytic converter is stolen from a parked car in the community of Sunnyside on Tuesday.
Obtained by Global News
Calgary police are warning vehicle owners after seeing a massive spike in recent catalytic converter thefts in the city.
According to Calgary police statistics there’s been 369 reported thefts so far this year, compared to 147 reported in all of 2025.
Sgt. Nick Wilsher with the Calgary Police Crime Prevention unit says one of the factors triggering the trend of these thefts is the increase in value of the metal.
“We know that the metals contained in the converter is worth a lot more money than it was last year so that’s kind of triggering people wanting to try and find an easy buck to start thinking, ‘Well, it’s worth more. I’ll get more,’” he says.
Global News has obtained a video from a homeowner that recorded one of these thefts happening in broad daylight in the community of Sunnyside around 12:13 p.m. on Tuesday.
Three people can be seen in the video walking towards a parked vehicle, then one of them crawls underneath. The trio is gone by 12:15 p.m. along with the catalytic converter.
Security video records as a catalytic converter is stolen from a parked car in the community of Sunnyside on Tuesday.
Obtained by Global News
“That is the biggest problem with this,” says Sgt. Wilsher. “It is such a quick and easy offence to commit and it’s one of those where you can do it quickly and nobody’s really noticing. It’s that quick that a lot of people don’t notice.”
That’s what happened to Kelsey Alain earlier this week. She also lives in Sunnyside and says she didn’t notice that she was a victim until she tried to start her car.
“There was a really loud rumble or kind of roar, and I realize something was wrong and then I looked underneath my car and sure enough someone tried to cut the pipe, either side of my catalytic converter. Luckily, they didn’t take it.”
The Alberta Motor Association website says around 4,800 catalytic converters are stolen across the province every year. It also has a number of prevention recommendations, including parking your vehicle in well lit areas and in a way that no one can get underneath it, or having the converter welded right to the vehicle.
Another is having the vehicle identification number engraved right on to the converter, which the website say makes it “harder for thieves to sell and easier for police to trace.”
They partnered with Kal Tire in recent years to make that engraving available at a low cost to the customer.
“Catalytic converters are very expensive,” says Kal Tire employee Marie Alexander. “They typically are very expensive, so preventative of having your (converter) engraved is probably a good idea because that stops it … usually,” she says.
Alexander says depending on the vehicle, replacing a catalytic converter could cost the vehicle owner at least $1,000.
The boarded-up window of a Kelowna store is getting a makeover after being damaged in a crash. Cohan Sassman explains how a local artist is turning the eyesore into something eye-catching.
What started as a damaged storefront has become one of the brighter spots along a Kelowna roadway.
After a vehicle crashed through the front windows on June 13th at Sweet Repeats Consignment Co., owner Deb Liebholtz was left staring at sheets of plywood covering the damage.
The store after a driver ran into sweet streats consignmnet
Cohan Sassaman
Instead of seeing an eyesore, she saw an opportunity.
“As I sat in my car watching the crews put up the plywood walls, I thought to myself, ‘How do I make this into a positive community story?'” Holtz said.
She reached out to local artist Melissa Dinwoodie and gave her a simple direction: create something joyful and let people know the store was still open.
“She just said, OK, yeah, I trust you, I want it to be joyful and happy,” Dinwoodie said.
The result was a bright floral mural covering the temporary wall.
While many murals can take weeks or even months to complete, Dinwoodie squeezed this project into an already busy schedule.
“I did it in seven hours; that’s not normal,” she said. “That was my fastest mural.”
The Mural done by Melissa dinwoodie
Cohan Sassaman
The mural has already become a talking point in the community.
“We are getting a lot of people coming by, commenting on the brightness,” said Holtz. “It’s a way to go for making lemonade out of lemons.”
And when the storefront is repaired, Holtz says the artwork won’t be disappearing.
WATCH: As the federal government releases its future energy strategy, Saskatchewan's government and a major uranium mining company say it is ready to meet that demand.
The province of Saskatchewan and a key uranium mining company say they are preparing to meet the demands of a rising nuclear energy sector, as Ottawa releases its nuclear energy strategy for the coming years.
The federal government’s strategy builds on its overall aim to double electricity capacity by 2050, with a focus on zero-emission power sources, such as nuclear, to avoid large-scale environmental impacts.
This focus is also shared by Saskatchewan, which says it welcomes Canada’s strategy because it aligns with its own energy future goals placing nuclear at the centre.
“I appreciate the Government of Canada recognizing the very central role that Saskatchewan plays in the global nuclear supply chain,” said Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison on Tuesday at a press conference on annual Crown corporation financial reports.
Harrison, who attended Monday’s energy strategy announcement in Newmarket, Ont., said he looks forward to working with the federal government, as Canada’s only uranium producer, to support its nuclear vision.
Saskatchewan currently has three active mine sites in its Athabasca Basin, where the province’s highest-grade uranium lives. Meanwhile, the province recognizes 57 advanced exploration uranium properties, according to its energy and resources ministry.
Earlier this month, Saskatchewan-based uranium producer Cameco announced it is looking to increase its share of its Cigar Lake Operation to around 57.4 per cent by acquiring just more than half of TEPCO’s five per cent share in the joint venture. Partner Orano will receive an additional 2.1 per cent stake, bringing its share to around 42.5 per cent.
“Our partner TEPCO just deemed the Cigar Lake ownership as non-strategic to them, and so there was an opportunity for the existing partners to split the share proportionally and we had the first rights to exercise that,” said Cory Koss, Cameco’s vice-president of investor relations and communications.
Koss says he recognizes the momentum heading in the uranium industry’s direction as downstream interest in climate security, national security, and energy security dominates conversations.
“This is feeling different this time around. It’s not an event that just comes and goes. There is real momentum behind nuclear like we’ve never seen before,” Koss told Global News in an interview at the Cigar Lake mine.
Adding more supply now is crucial to keep up with global demand, said Koss.
“This is an industry where it takes 10 to 20 years to bring on the production and if we want to meet that stock of demand coming to the market, we need to start investing in that production today,” Koss said.
Earlier this year, two new mining projects, Denison Mine’s Wheeler River and NexGen Energy’s Rook I, were granted approval for construction. This marks the first uranium mines approved in over two decades.
“We have a world-class nuclear sector that is going to continue to grow,” Harrison said.
With two long-time councillors stepping away from civic politics, there will be at least a couple of fresh faces on Winnipeg’s city council. Toni De Guzman reports.
With two long-time councillors stepping away from civic politics, there will be at least a couple of fresh faces on Winnipeg’s city council.
Coun. Janice Lukes announced Wednesday she will not be running in the fall after 12 years in office.
“I will forever be honoured from the friendship, support and encouragement that residents have shown me throughout this journey. I have incredible residents at the Waverely West ward,” said Lukes, who was emotional.
Another long-time councillor who’s been elected since 2009 announced last week he would also step aside.
Coun. John Orlikow, 57, said it’s time to move on and for new faces to run.
Experts say they’re watching for potential change in River Heights – Fort Garry, Waverley West, as well as Transcona.
“The incumbency factor in city council is really hard to overcome if you’re a challenger, so watch for the wards that don’t have a returning politician,” said Christopher Adams, political scientist at University of Manitoba.
Coun. Brian Mayes said he will announce what his plans are on Monday. Coun. Markus Chambers said he’s still evaluating, but not ruling out another run. Coun. Russ Wyatt told Global News he is still determining whether he will run again.
Councillors Ross Eadie, Devi Sharma, Emma Durand-Wood, Jeff Browaty, Matt Allard, Shawn Dobson, Sherri Rollins and Vivian Santos confirmed they will be running.
Coun. Cindy Gilroy did not immediately respond.
Registration for council candidates begins Tuesday.
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