The soundtrack from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey spins on the turntable at the Modern Hotel in downtown Boise, Idaho on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, where members of the Vinyl Preservation Society of Idaho meet once a month to promote the listening to vinyl records over the more modern music on CD's and iPods. (AP Photo/Troy Maben)
AP Photo/Troy Maben
If you have a stereo set-up at home, you’ll know that there’s a special input for your turntable labelled “phono.” You can’t just plug it into, say, an auxiliary input. If you can use an aux input for everything else, why not your turntable?
Because in order to play back vinyl correctly, it has to go through something called a “phono stage.” Vinyl has limitations when it comes to storing very low frequencies and very high ones. To counteract that, records are pressed with the bass turned down and the treble turned up per something called the RIAA equalization curve. Upon playback, the phono stage reverses that curve, boosting the bass by a specific amount and reducing the treble, thereby achieving the tonal balance of the original recording.
The RIAA curve may help explain why it feels better to listen to vinyl than a digital recording.
Don't miss the Kingston Symphony Association Volunteer Committee's upcoming Vinyl Records Sale, which opens on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 4 p.m. From pop rock to blues, classical to jazz, folk to dixieland, we have albums to satisfy everyone’s musical taste. For this sale, we will see the return of the Platinum Lounge, which will feature some rare and collectible items. We also have a great selection of CDs, DVDs, and equipment. SALE DATES & TIMES: Thursday, October 24 | 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, October 25 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, October 26 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, October 27 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. LOCATION: Kingston Symphony Warehouse | 785 Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, Unit 7A LP PRICING: Thursday | $6 each Friday | $4 each Saturday | $2 each Sunday | $1 each PLATINUM LOUNGE | Various Prices CD & DVD PRICING: Thursday | $4 each Friday | $3 each Saturday | $2 each Sunday | $1 each
File photo
A vinyl record features a continuous groove that begins on the outer edge and spirals in toward the label. How long is that groove? It depends on how much music is on the side of a record, but a general length is somewhere around 500 metres.
How wide is that groove? Anywhere from 40 to 80 microns, which can also be expressed as 4 one-hundredths to 8 one-hundredths of a millimetre. That’s about the width of a human hair.
There are a couple of oddball exceptions to this. For example, in 1973, Monty Python released an album called Matching Tie and Handkerchief. One side of the record secretly had two spiral grooves side by side. Depending on when you dropped the needle, it caught one groove or the other, resulting in completely different audio. Imagine trying to figure out why that side of your record was different when you went to play it.
The change of heart by Edmonton City Council came a day after several dozen area residents staged a protest against the city's original plan.
Global News
Following a large protest by area residents Monday evening and a meeting of Edmonton City Council on Tuesday, the city has agreed to make some changes to its plans to remove a large section of on-street parking along 50th Street to allow for the installation of bike lanes.
The original plan called for on-street parking to be removed between 102 Avenue and 109A Avenue, an idea that drew several dozen residents from the communities of Fulton, Capilano and Goldbar to gather along the street Monday evening in protest.
The city's original plan called for on street parking to be removed along 50 Street between on-street parking to be removed between 102 Avenue and 109A Avenue to allow for the building of bike lanes.
Global News
“We have over close to 200 houses along both routes that this is their primary parking,” said protester Chris Short.
“We get arguments from people that, ‘Oh, well use your lane, use your garage,’ but a lot of houses don’t have a lane because we’re on a slope down to the river — we’re terraced down — and garages built in the area were built in the late ’50s early ’60s so most newer vehicles, SUVs can’t fit into them.”
The protesters claim putting bike lanes in front of the houses would be especially inconvenient for the many seniors who live in the area.
“We want to work with the city,” said Ginny Archer. “We want to have our parking and the ability get to our house, ability for emergency services to get to houses, home care — all of these things.
“A lot of our residents are seniors. Bike lanes are great, but we can do both. We can have parking and bike lanes.”
On Tuesday, the protests appear to have some sway on the city.
Following a meeting of council, area councillor Ashley Salvador said there is an alternate plan that city administration has been directed to move forward with.
It would maintain on-street parking for about half the originally affected stretch of 50 Street.
“We’re looking at how to accommodate everyone,” said Salvador.
Describing it as “the best scenario possible,” Mayor Andrew Knack said, “Here’s a great example of where you can add bike infrastructure, maintain your lanes of traffic, maintain your parking — why wouldn’t you do it?”
However, the alternative design does come at a cost.
It is projected to cost about $4.9 million, compared to the cost of the initial plan which was $4.2 million.
Environment Canada says nearly 100 millimetres of rainfall and strong wind gusts were reported in some communities along the Manitoba-Ontario border.
Courtesy of Robin Frieling
Swamped boats, downed trees, yards turned into rivers and streets into lakes.
That’s some of the chaos caused by a massive storm Monday afternoon that battered a 200-km stretch from Whiteshell Provincial Park, along the Manitoba-Ontario border, to Dryden, Ont.
Cellphone alerts started going off at 1:37 p.m. local time Monday and didn’t end until after 4 p.m.
Environment Canada reports nearly 100 mm of rain fell in some parts of the region, causing widespread overland flooding, as more than half the rain fell within an hour.
Wind gusts reached 125 km/h, downing trees and power lines. Two red alerts were issued for tornadoes but investigators haven’t determined if any touched down.
Hydro One says more than 4,000 customers lost power. As of Tuesday afternoon 3,000 were still without.
As cleanup of yards and flooded basements continues, no more rain is in the forecast for the region on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Durham Regional Police East Division building is shown in Bowmanville, Ont. on March 15, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives
One trainee police officer has died in a traffic accident on their way to the Ontario Police College, while another is in life-threatening condition.
Durham Regional Police Chief Peter Moreira confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that two cadets with his force had been involved in the crash on their way to training.
The crash was reported just before noon near Aylmer in southwestern Ontario.
“It is with deep sadness that I share that one constable in training has lost their life, while the other remains in life-threatening condition,” Moreira said in his statement.
“During this difficult time, our focus is on supporting the families of our constables in training, as well as their classmates, instructors, friends, and members of our Service who are grieving this tragic loss.”
A spokesperson for Elgin County OPP said officers responded to a serious collision around 11:30 a.m., but redirected all questions to the force’s main communications centre.
OPP’s media team said questions should go to the Ontario Police College, which did not respond ahead of publication.
“We ask that the public respect the privacy of the families and all those affected as they navigate this unimaginable tragedy, and as notifications continue,” Moreira said.
“The circumstances surrounding the collision remain under investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police, and we will not be providing any further details at this time.”
A tactical axe, cash and drugs were among the items seized by the Pelican Narrows RCMP.
Saskatchewan RCMP
A northern Saskatchewan woman is facing a slew of charges after police found and seized multiple illegal items, including replica firearms, cash and methamphetamine.
After being allowed inside, officers reported seeing guns, ammunition and bagged white powder, police said. The woman was arrested and a search warrant for the home was secured.
During their formal search of the home, RCMP officers found a sawed-off shotgun, multiple imitation guns, various types of ammunition and a large sum of cash, though the exact amount seized by police was not disclosed.
Thirty cellphones and “various bladed weapons,” including a tactical axe, knives and machetes, were also seized, according to the release. Drug paraphernalia and 664 grams of suspected crystal methamphetamine were also said to be in the home.
Charges, including possession of a loaded prohibited firearm without a licence and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, were laid against a 30-year-old Pelican Narrows woman. She is also being charged with the production of crystal meth, as well as the drug trafficking of meth, fentanyl and crack cocaine.
RELATED: IIU clears officers in fatal Broadway encounter
Manitoba’s police watchdog is investigating after officers wrestled a man to the ground and he was later taken to a hospital with a cracked skull.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba says Winnipeg police received a call Monday about a drunk man who had allegedly assaulted several people at the Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre.
The agency says officers detained the man and took him to the city’s Protective Care Centre, a detox centre that can hold people for up to 72 hours.
It says that during the handover to staff, the man started to resist and kicked an officer’s leg, prompting police to force the man to the ground.
The agency says officers knocked the man unconscious in their efforts to regain control of him.
It says the man regained consciousness and continued to resist officers while being transported to the hospital, where doctors found the skull fracture.
The watchdog says it’s mandated to investigate because the arrest involved serious injury.
George Semchuk and Tim Prokipchuk assess hail damage on a vehicle at J Max Collision & Glass.
Randall Paull / Global News
A season of wild weather in Manitoba has made for some busy businesses and insurance companies.
“After a large storm like this it’s a higher volume of calls, maybe double, and earlier in the month it was maybe triple the phone calls,” J Max Collision & Glass operations manager George Semchuk told Global News.
“It feels a little busy, but we still make sure we take our time to have that car going back to brand new.”
Removing a windshield cracked by hail.
Randall Paull / Global News
Tim Prokipchuk, an estimator at J Max Collision & Glass, says he hasn’t seen a season quite like this.
“This is definitely the most severe storm that we’ve had in probably the last 10 years. The size of the hail, the severity of the damages is something that I personally have not seen before,” Prokipchuk said.
“We had one that was related to the tornado that touched down in south Winnipeg. The whole vehicle was peppered with shingles, glass was blown out, and the interior was completely destroyed from glass.”
Tim Prokipchuk, an estimator at J Max Collision & Glass, says this is the most hail and storm-related damage that he's seen.
Randall Paull / Global News
It’s also meant a flood of calls to roofing companies.
“We’ve been experiencing an unprecedented amount of calls,” said Don Fata, the sales and marketing manager at Pristine Roofing & Siding.
“Normally this time of year we’d be getting 60 to 70 calls a week. They’ve been (receiving) around 200 to 250 calls a week.”
Don Fata says his company, Pristine Roofing & Siding, has been getting over 200 calls a day.
Randall Paull / Global News
Fata says crews are working lengthy hours, doing damage assessments and patching and tarping roofs.
“When there’s disaster it needs to be done right away,” he said.
A storm in southwestern Manitoba Sunday night brought golf-ball sized hail to the communities of Boissevain and Killarney.
“It was very loud and I was very worried about my window being shattered,” said Jacob Thain, who was driving through the Boissevain area at the time.
“About five minutes of some golf-ball sized hail and I did get some minor denting, I would say at least 100 dents across my hood and my roof.”
Boissevain resident Barry Lamb says the community has barely recovered from the previous storm that brought about seven inches of rain to the area.
“We were just recovering from flooded basements of sewage and water, so it’s been a rough week for the Boissevain area,” said Lamb, noting the local golf course had to be closed down after the hail damaged the greens.
In Killarney, local insurance company Lewis & Jones has also been inundated with calls.
“We started taking calls Sunday and then Monday, the calls were constant,” insurance broker Rob MacDonald said.
“Lots of roofs, shingles, we’ve even had lots of house windows broken as well. On the auto side there’s a ton of damaged vehicles as well. It’s just unreal how much damage that the storm did.”
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) has already seen a record number of hail claims, with 30,000 claims made in June. A spokesperson for MPI says about 28,000 of those claims were connected to the June 9th storm.
The intense weather is also likely to result in a record number of homeowner’s insurance claims.
“I haven’t seen any numbers yet, but I believe they will be astounding. I believe the number of claims is going to be quite high,” Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba chief executive officer Grant Wainikka said.
Rob de Pruis with the Insurance Bureau of Canada says recurring extreme weather events will only continue to drive insurance premiums to new heights.
“Severe weather is increasing frequency and severity and that number just keeps going up. So because of those increased claims costs year after year, we could be seeing more pressure on insurance premiums,” de Pruis said.
According to Statistics Canada, 2020 to 2025 were in the top 10 costliest years for insurance claims related to catastrophic weather events, with 2024 being the costliest year with more than $8.6 billion in insurance claims.
The New Brunswick government is taking a step towards restarting extraction of a mineral the federal government says is essential for national security. The province says it selected Avenir Minerals, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Agnico Eagle Mines, to work on an agreement that would allow exploration of the former Lake George antimony mine site. The Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. logo is shown in a handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
The New Brunswick government is taking a step towards restarting extraction of a mineral the federal government says is essential for national security.
The province says it selected Avenir Minerals, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Agnico Eagle Mines, to work on an agreement that would allow exploration of the former Lake George antimony mine site.
The Natural Resources Department says the site was once North America’s largest mine that primarily produced antimony, a mineral used in the production of flame retardants and lead-acid batteries.
The province says Canada, the United States and the European Union all consider antimony a critical mineral, as the global supply is heavily concentrated in China.
Today’s announcement comes as New Brunswick aims to revive its mining sector amid renewed interest from Western governments in domestic supply chains.
A provincial Natural Resources Department spokesperson says the agreement between the province and Avenir Minerals will be worked out over the next few months.
Avenir Minerals CEO Alden Greenhouse says his company will work collaboratively with the province, local communities, Indigenous Peoples and others as part of the process.
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