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.

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.

An Ontario university student has been arrested in the United States after allegedly taking photos at two airports at the request of someone he believed to be a Chinese government official.

In an affidavit filed in Michigan court, an FBI agent said Weiheng Zeng, a Chinese citizen studying at the University of Waterloo, was initially flagged by authorities in connection with an incident at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in April.

The agent said a man was seen taking photos, climbing a forklift and trying to open locked trailers at a FedEx facility at the airport on April 21, about 10 days after Zeng drove into the U.S. via the Ambassador Bridge.

Zeng was later linked to a car that was at the facility during the incident, a dark blue minivan with Ontario licence plates, the affidavit said.

When Zeng tried to drive into the U.S. again with the same minivan on Aug. 23, the student was pulled aside for a series of interviews first with border agents and later with the FBI in its counter-intelligence investigation.

Zeng gave conflicting accounts over the course of the interviews, the agent said. The document said he has been charged with making false statements.

At first, Zeng gave few details about his trip to Chicago in April, saying only that he took photos of planes, the affidavit said. He had told customs officers at the time that he was going to visit his sister, it said.

When agents reviewed his phone, they found multiple photos of aircraft and military planes, as well as photos of Zeng and others in tactical clothes holding rifle-style firearms, the court document said.

Zeng said he took photos of model aircraft for a flight radar website, and that the guns in the photos were airsoft guns, which shoot pellets rather than bullets, the agent said. He also denied having any kind of military training.

During a second interview with border agents, Zeng said he took photos of planes landing at O’Hare from a public parking lot, the affidavit said. Later, he said he went to a FedEx facility and climbed a forklift to take pictures.

The university student said he had also previously trespassed at a FedEx facility at Toronto’s Pearson airport but had been caught, the agent said.

In a third interview, Zeng said a Chinese contact had reached out to him on a website for aviation spotters and assigned him specific planes to photograph, giving him the planes’ tail numbers and paying $20 to $30 per photo, it said.

He told border agents the Chinese contact mailed him SIM cards to use for their communications. Zeng said he would later destroy the SIM cards and delete the conversations as well as the photos, the agent said.

He admitted he’d gone to O’Hare to take photos of American planes for the Chinese contact, who he suspected was connected to the Chinese Communist Party, the agent said.

Zeng’s story continued evolve during his interview with the FBI, according to the affidavit.

The Chinese contact was an aviation enthusiast who was interested in photos of rare planes for “research,” Zeng allegedly told the FBI.

Zeng said he took photos of a specific American United plane at O’Hare in April because it had a temporary paint job that made photos “highly desired,” and went to the FedEx facility to take photos of an MD11 that was rare due to its age, the agent said.

After more questioning, however, Zeng admitted he wasn’t taking photos of specific planes, the agent alleged. Rather, that was the cover story provided by the Chinese contact, who was actually interested in information on transportation logistics and wanted photos of particular locations around airports, the affidavit said.

Zeng also told the FBI the Chinese contact had sent him a photo of a badge as well as videos of scenes that only security officials could access, then used a function to recall the messages, the document said.

The Chinese contact asked Zeng for “help” after the pair had been messaging daily for three months starting in October or November 2024, the student allegedly told the FBI. Zeng said he agreed because he thought it was “cool,” the affidavit said.

Zeng said he received a new SIM card every few months and destroyed the previous one, the document said. He added he would send the photos through the phone and then delete them, and got paid through transfers to a Bank of China account, it said. He never took the phone with him to the U.S.

Though he was asked to go to locations in Orlando and Las Vegas, Zeng told the FBI he only accepted the O’Hare and Pearson assignments, the document said. He was only able to take photos of the exterior of the FedEx facility at Pearson, it said.

When FBI agents looked into the forum where Zeng said he’d met the Chinese contact, they found it didn’t exist, the agent said.

The allegations have not yet been tested in court.

Chris Mathers, a former RCMP officer who now runs a private crime and risk consulting firm in Toronto, said it’s common practice for Chinese state security to try to recruit people online.

“They cruise around these online forums and … try and attract individuals that might be able to do some work for them,” he said.

The kinds of assignments described in the court document sound like a test run to see whether someone can be cultivated as a source, Mathers said.

As for the information allegedly collected, while basic, it could nonetheless be valuable in light of tensions between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, he said.

The Americans may not have the logistical capability to get more equipment to Taiwan at the moment given their involvement in the Middle East and would likely have to use civilian transport on some occasions, he said.

Knowing more about the baseline situation at freight facilities might help government officials detect any unusual movement of equipment, Mathers added.

“The Chinese technique of intelligence gathering is to hoover up everything. Train schedules, phone books, a restaurant menu — they just hoover it all up and then they parse through it and pick out what might be of value now or in the future,” he said.

“It’s rather nebulous, obviously, but that’s just the espionage world.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Manitoba kids are getting ready to head back to the classroom, which often comes with some early-school-year sick days as they’re once again exposed to many other children in confined spaces.

In the Southern Health Region, officials are encouraging parents to get their kids’ vaccinations up to date, as there are larger concerns there than the common cold.

The region’s recent population health assessment says it has the lowest numbers in the province when it comes to childhood immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shots and meningococcal disease. In Southern Health, just over 53 per cent of seven-year-olds are up to date on their measles vaccines — around 13 percentage points lower than the area with the next-lowest coverage.

So far this year, measles cases peaked in February, with 177 confirmed across the province. The situation eased by June, when there were only eight confirmed, but Dr. Mahmoud Khodaveisi with the Southern Health Region says they’re asking parents to remain vigilant so infections don’t spike again during the school year.

“For immunization, the uptick was higher compared to previous years but I have to mention the rate is much below the ideal goals,” Khodaveisi says. “With the fall and the weather starting to become more cold and people starting to stay inside, we’re hoping that this doesn’t happen again and we don’t have many cases of measles.”

Early measles symptoms include fever or blotchy red rashes, but complications can include lung infection or brain inflammation.

Measles cases in Manitoba in 2026 have resulted in 52 hospitalizations and six ICU admissions. More than 82 per cent of cases were in people with no doses of the vaccine.

Across Canada, only two provinces, Ontario and New Brunswick, have vaccine requirements for children who want to attend school in person. Manitoba previously had a mandate, but that has since been repealed.

“There was a period of time where many of these contagious infections were lower and specific jurisdictions or provinces reduced the requirement or didn’t follow up on rules that were already on the book that required these to enter school,” McMaster University professor of medicine Dawn Bowdish says.

The professor says the provinces mandating school vaccines had widespread success in preventing the spread. Manitoba has confirmed 680 cases so far in 2026 compared with Ontario with 31.

“It’s thought this contributes to parents becoming aware of their child not being up to date,” Bowdish says. “Oftentimes people have no issue with being vaccinated but maybe they moved provinces or they’ve had some disruptions during their childhood vaccine schedule and they simply don’t know that they’re not up to date and most of these vaccines require two, three or four shots.”

In Manitoba, there’s no plan to add vaccine requirements to enter schools. The province says the game plan is education.

“Our stance still is to try to provide as much information as possible to dispel the extreme amount of disinformation,” chief provincial public health officer Brent Roussin says. “We’re here to build trust again, we’re here to build connections.”

Currently, provincial health teams are working in communities attempting to “build trust” with families regarding vaccines.

Bowdish says there are potential side effects for children who receive vaccines that need to be remembered, but stresses that most of the shots, including for measles and mumps, have been around in their current forms for decades.

“No matter how you do the math, the consequences of having one of these infections always outweighs some of the small but present risks of having a vaccine,” Bowdish says.

“You can reasonably expect that as that immune system kicks in, your kid is going to be tired, achy, cranky and may need to sleep. We shouldn’t underestimate this because this might mean that a parent might have to take time off work or find a babysitter. We can’t underestimate how disruptive those fevers can be, but those pass.”

An additional side effect, according to Health Canada, is a higher risk of fever-triggered seizures. The MMR vaccine, for example, when combined with the varicella shot, which reduces the risk of chickenpox and shingles, results in fever-triggered seizures for kids between 12 and 23 months of age in about one out of every 2,300 to 2,800 cases.

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

A sentencing hearing is underway for a woman found guilty of criminal negligence causing death after her two large dogs killed an 11-year-old boy.

Crystal MacDonald’s two cane corsos attacked Kache Grist at her home near 82nd Street and 11th Avenue SW in south Edmonton’s Summerside neighbourhood in April 2024.

In court on Wednesday, the child’s father said he doesn’t want the animals’ owner to go to prison.

Wesley Grist said he believes MacDonald loved his son but added both of them will have to live with the burden of the death.

The boy, who lived in Osoyoos, B.C., was staying at her house for spring break, as Grist was her roommate.

The trial heard the dogs named Khaos and Kairo had earlier injured two people and killed a cat and a Pomeranian.

MacDonald testified that she repeatedly told Kache’s father not to leave the boy alone with her dogs.

An autopsy found the child died from bite injuries to the neck. The dogs were later euthanized.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin said in his ruling that MacDonald showed a “wanton disregard” for the boy’s life and safety.

Macklin reserved handing down his sentencing decision until Thursday afternoon.

— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Alberta’s highest court has struck the decision by a Catholic school division requiring a trustee to publicly apologize for a social media post that compared children waving Pride flags to Nazi Germany.

The issue erupted in the summer of 2023 and led Monique LaGrange to resign from the board of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools after fellow board members voted to disqualify her.

The social media post, which LaGrange later deleted, featured an image of children holding Pride flags in a classroom underneath an image of children waving swastikas, with the caption “brainwashing is brainwashing.”

The board ruled the post and media interviews LaGrange did in the weeks that followed violated division policies and the province’s education law. It sanctioned LaGrange by demanding an apology, censuring her from parts of her job and requiring she undergo sensitivity training.

LaGrange unsuccessfully challenged the board’s decisions multiple times in court.

On Wednesday, a panel of three Court of Appeal judges ruled partly in her favour, striking the ruling that she issue an apology.

The court, in a written decision, says the board mandating LaGrange be “deeply sorry” amounts to compelled speech and imposes an impossible disciplinary standard, since she doesn’t believe she was in the wrong.

LaGrange had told the board that the “Holy Spirit” told her to make the social media post. She also told court she would do it again if she had the opportunity, says Wednesday’s court decision.

It notes that another court previously ruled the board couldn’t require an apology from LaGrange be “sincere,” since it amounted to compelled speech. The Appeal Court says it struck the entire apology requirement for the same reason.

It cited a number of past rulings about forced apologies, including one that determined they’re “likely to be regarded primarily as a form of unjust humiliation and not necessarily as a vindication of what is right.”

The court dismissed other aspects of LaGrange’s appeal, including her attempts to have the board’s decisions quashed for being unfair or unreasonable.

It also dismissed an argument by LaGrange’s lawyer that the board didn’t properly take Roman Catholic values into consideration.

The court says whether LaGrange’s post represented those values is irrelevant and subject to “considerable disagreement,” because her actions violated board rules.

“Ms. LaGrange was not sanctioned for her religious beliefs – she was sanctioned for engaging in conduct contrary to the behavioural standards set out in the (board’s) code of conduct,” says the decision.

“The offensive aspect of her conduct was not her personal beliefs about homosexuality or what she calls ‘gender ideology,’ but rather her choice to use her social media platform to ostensibly equate support for gender and sexual diversity with Nazism.”

James Kitchen, LaGrange’s lawyer, said in an email that they’re pleased with the decision striking the apology sanction.

”Especially since this has practical utility for other trustees and councillors encountering compelled apologies from their respective boards and councils,” he said.

”It is good to see that the Court of Appeal at least got that right.”

The school division didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

LaGrange ran for municipal council in Red Deer County last year but was defeated.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – The CFL suspended B.C. Lions fullback Jacob Bond for two games Wednesday for violating its drug policy.

In a statement, the CFL said Bond, 23, of Terrace, B.C., tested positive for the banned substance D-amphetamine, also known as dextroamphetamine, a stimulant used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Bond has the right to appeal the league’s ruling if he wishes.

The two-game suspension is for a first-time violation of the policy.

A second offence would result in a nine-game ban.

The Lions’ next two games are against the league-leading Alouettes in Montreal on Friday and at home on Sept. 12. B.C. enters Friday’s contest on a five-game winning streak.

The six-foot-three, 235-pound Bond is in his second CFL season with B.C. He has appeared in eight games in 2025 but hasn’t recorded any rushing or receiving statistics.

Bond played in 12 games with the Lions in 2025, recording no rushing or receiving stats. He has nine special-teams tackles this season and had eight last year.

As per the league policy, suspended players can’t participate in regular-season or post-season games. It’s up to teams whether to allow the player to participate in other activities, such as training camp, pre-season games, practices or meetings.

All CFL players are subject to mandatory drug testing following a violation of the policy. They’re also required to participate in an assessment and clinical evaluation to determine if additional counselling is needed.

Testing across the league is ongoing and conducted year-round.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

There’s much more on the line for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts than just Labour Day bragging rights.

Hamilton (4-8) hosts Toronto (5-6) on Monday in the last regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Ticats and Argos split the previous two contests.

The winner captures the Harold Ballard Trophy and clinches the season series, the tiebreaker should the two end the year tied.

A win would move Toronto four points ahead of Hamilton in the battle for second in the East Division, with a game in hand. Conversely, the Ticats can assume the No. 2 spot with their fourth home victory of the campaign.

But a loss would leave Hamilton with just five regular-season games to move ahead of Toronto. Given how tight the West Division standings are and Montreal (9-2) being comfortably ahead in the East Division, finishing second is the only surefire way to secure a CFL playoff berth.

That’s because Winnipeg (6-5) and B.C. (6-5) are tied for third in the West with Calgary (5-6) close behind. So it’s looking like the fourth-place team in the West will cross over and take the East Division’s final playoff spot.

Toronto is coming off a disappointing 28-24 road loss to Saskatchewan. The Riders outscored the Argos 16-2 in the second half to earn the comeback victory.

Toronto’s Chad Kelly threw for 416 yards and three TDs, tying him with Montreal’s Davis Alexander for the league lead (24). But Kelly also had two interceptions, giving him a CFL-high 17 thus far.

And after rushing for a season-high 145 yards in a 39-20 home victory over Hamilton on Aug. 22, the Argos ran for just 15 yards versus Saskatchewan. Toronto is 4-0 this season when running for 100 or more yards in a game.

Canadian Tre Ford had 356 yards passing in the last meeting versus Toronto, but the Argos erased a 17-15 halftime deficit by outscoring the Ticats 24-3 in the second half.

Last week, Ford threw for 212 yards — he also had a team-high 80 rushing yards — in a 28-23 road loss to Calgary as backup Josh Love completed 25-of-36 passes for 274 yards with a TD and an interception, while Dedrick Mills rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown.

Hamilton won the first meeting 24-23 on July 18 when veteran Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed a game-ending 31-yard field goal after failing to make a convert earlier. Hajrullahu hasn’t played since, as rookie Brady Lidster handled kicking duties before being released Wednesday.

That suggests Hajrullahu — a two-time Grey Cup champion with Toronto — will return to action Monday. Veteran defensive lineman Shawn Lemon registered two sacks two weeks ago and has eight in the five games he’s played with the Argos.

The Ticats lead the series 37-16-1 all-time, but Toronto has won three of the last four Labour Day meetings at Hamilton Stadium.

Pick: Toronto.

B.C. Lions vs. Montreal Alouettes (Friday night)

At Montreal, the Alouettes (9-2) come off a 44-28 road loss to Winnipeg. Davis Alexander threw for 257 yards and four TDs and is expected to play despite being limited in practice with a lower-body injury. Tyler Snead joined teammate Tyson Philpot in the 1,000-yard receiving club. B.C. (6-5) has won five straight, and in Sunday’s 45-24 victory in Ottawa, Zander Horvath ran for 164 yards and four touchdowns. Nathan Rourke threw for 355 yards and two TDs, but the Lions are not only coming off a short week but are facing an opponent that’s 6-0 at home and with something to prove.

Pick: Montreal.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (Sunday night)

At Regina, the Riders (7-4) rallied to beat Toronto last week for their first win in three games. Trevor Harris had 313 yards passing and two TDs while KeeSean Johnson registered 10 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. Quali Conley ran for 78 yards on 10 carries. Winnipeg (6-5) was impressive in its 44-28 win over Montreal last week, snapping the Alouettes’ seven-game win streak. Zach Collaros threw for 324 yards and two TDs, Ontaria Wilson registered nine catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns; and Brady Oliveira ran for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Pick:
Saskatchewan.

Edmonton Eskimos vs. Calgary Stampeders (Monday night)

At Calgary, it’s the first of back-to-back meetings between the Alberta rivals, who’ll tangle again Sept. 12 at Commonwealth Stadium. Starter Vernon Adams Jr. (head) didn’t play last week, and it’s unclear if he will be ready for the Stampeders (5-6), who are just 2-4 at home this season. If Adams can’t go, Love will make a second straight start, and Mills could again be a key figure for the home team. Fatigue shouldn’t be a problem for Edmonton (8-3), which comes off a bye week having won its last two games. The Elks are 2-11 in the last 13 Labour Day showdowns at McMahon Stadium but are 4-2 within the West Division and 3-2 on the road.

Pick: Edmonton.

Last week: 3-1.

Overall: 31-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press