Pre-recorded cassettes first appeared in the mid-60s and reached their commercial peak in the mid-80s before slowly fading away over the next couple of decades. This brings me to the problem of the disastrous EMI cobalt cassettes of the 90s.
They seemed to use high-tech ferric-cobalt technology, but in fact, highly compressed audio to mask the fact that EMI was using poor-quality tape. Marketed as xDR cassettes, they were duplicated so that they sounded good on boomboxes and portable cassette players but terrible everywhere else. The music sounded harsh and rough on something like a good car stereo. Listener fatigue was a problem. Not only that, but because the base tape was substandard, xDR tapes degraded fast, especially when it came to treble frequencies.
So, if you’re a collector of vintage cassettes, stay away from these things. They are not worth your time.
Kingston store at the centre of 'home run dragon' craze.
Kaytlyn Poberznick / Global News
What started as a children’s toy has become one of the hottest accessories for Toronto Blue Jays fans this summer.
The Flaming Dragon Ride-On — a plush dragon mounted on a stick — has emerged as the team’s unofficial good-luck charm after appearing in the Blue Jays’ dugout during a series in San Francisco earlier this month.
The surge in popularity has driven customers to The Rocking Horse toy store in Kingston, where staff say demand for the toy skyrocketed almost overnight.
“We were completely shocked at first,” said Lyn Wattam, a sales assistant at the store. “We’ve always had this dragon around, but then there was a peak of interest just in one evening. We did a little bit more research, but it wasn’t until one local customer came in and told us that it was related to the Blue Jays that we realized this was a big trend that was beginning.”
The Blue Jays introduced the stuffed dragon into the dugout during a difficult offensive stretch in hopes it might help spark the teams’ bats. Fans quickly embraced the dragon as a symbol of the team.
“I think that it really tapped into something deeper in people, which is just this nostalgia and this desire to be a part of a bigger community that follows the Toronto Blue Jays,” Wattam said. “That’s not normally a community that shows interest in a toy store, but this really brought them in.”
The Rocking Horse says it has become the only online retailer currently selling the dragon, helping fuel demand from customers across the country.
“Over the past few weeks we have been the only store online that has had these available for purchase, which has added a lot to the traction that we’ve been getting,” Wattam said.
The business says it has received online orders from across Canada, from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island, prompting a fresh shipment of 124 dragons that arrived Thursday.
“There’s been a lot of traction,” Wattam said. “We’ve seen over a thousand people visit our website because of this dragon, and they span from coast to coast in Canada. We’ve actually sold over a hundred just in online orders alone, so it really has taken hold and created quite a frenzy.”
For $39.99, fans are hoping this little dragon breathes fire into the Blue Jays’ offence.
WATCH: (July 22) Some interesting new statistics on crime in Kelowna show that despite growing frustration with street disorder, the city's 'Crime Severity Index' was down in 2025 across all categories. But is it a real improvement, or just a lack of reporting from crime-weary residents? Klaudia Van Emmerik reports.
Despite a decline in the severity of police-reported crime, many Kelowna, B.C., residents and business owners say they aren’t convinced the city is becoming safer.
Newly released data from Statistics Canada’s annual Crime Severity Index show the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime in the Kelowna census metropolitan area fell 4.5 per cent in 2025.
The decline moved Kelowna to ninth among Canada’s 41 census metropolitan areas, down from fifth the previous year.
“I think it is going down, hopefully,” said Kelowna resident Candy Van Hees. “We can only hope. Kelowna is a wonderful place, so let’s just keep positive.”
The Crime Severity Index measures both the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime.
Even with the improvement in the rankings, concerns about public safety remain widespread.
“It’s not down. I think it’s up,” said Alfreda Joseph. “There’s a lot of crime that goes on around here.”
Another resident suggested the statistics may not reflect the full picture.
“I personally think people just aren’t reporting it anymore,” said Sharon Kenney. “Where I live, which is off Springfield, there’s a lot of crime.”
That sentiment is echoed by some local business owners.
David Lea, owner of Toshido Mixed Martial Arts in Rutland, agrees.
“I think it is the kind of rhetoric that people are getting pretty tired of hearing,” Lea said. “We keep being told that crime is down, but we’re just not seeing it in the streets.”
Lea said his business regularly deals with social disorder and crime, including deliberately-set fires, drug use and threats against staff.
He said he no longer reports every incident to police.
“If I reported every crime that happens around my business, I would be on the phone with the RCMP every single day,” Lea said. “This is not an exaggeration.”
He believes many business owners have reached the same conclusion.
“I talk to a lot of my fellow business people and people just feel, ‘What is the point?’ Why get on the phone? Why get online when nothing’s going to be done about it?” he said.
In an email to Global News, Kelowna RCMP acknowledged the numbers don’t reflect the whole story when it comes to criminal activity.
“Although Kelowna has seen an improvement compared to last year, the Kelowna RCMP recognizes that the Crime Severity Index is only one measure and does not tell the whole story,” said Cpl. Steven Lang.
“Perceptions of community safety remain important and were identified as a key concern in the City of Kelowna Citizen Survey.”
Lang added that public safety remains a top priority.
“When reviewing the data, it is important to acknowledge that the CSI captures only Criminal Code offences and does not account for calls for service related to public disorder,” Lang said.
“Police continue to work closely with community partners to address the issues that matter most to Kelowna residents.”
WATCH: If you feel like you run into road construction wherever you go, you're not alone. After a late start to spring caused delays, the city is scrambling to get it all done. Our Ashley Beherns looked into how people are getting around.
Saskatoon city crews have been hard at work and residents have noticed, saying it seems like every day there’s a new street blocked off.
“There are things that are being done this year that are over and above the norm. I would say the work related to the Link system or the BRT system,” said Matt Jurkiewicz, construction and design director for the city of Saskatoon.
It’s hard to not hit a detour driving around the city, with many projects currently active on major roads like Circle Drive, Wanuskewin Road, College Drive, and the University Bridge.
“It’s not just willy-nilly. We’re using data and we’re trying to be systematic in the work that we do. And a lot of stuff that we do also centres around, like, we’re not going to repave a road if the pipes need to be fixed underground first,” said Jurkiewicz.
“So, we focus on fixing the underground infrastructure.”
With College closed for construction on the new bus rapid transit system, some people have been having a hard time accessing the Royal University Hospital.
In the same area, Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan, who houses families from outside of the city, says there have been challenges.
“When they see the barricades and they see the fences, if they’re walking over to the hospital, they’re wondering if they can get through,” said Tammy Forrester, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan. “So we’ve had to navigate some of those conversations.”
With much of the work being on major roads, the city has been looking to do a lot of it overnight, including paving on Circle Drive, to mitigate traffic for commuters and contractors during the day.
“I think folks will be able to see and expect more of the work on these busy roads to start happening overnight in the coming years,” said Jurkiewicz.
The city is reminding drivers to keep an eye out for signage and detours to keep city workers safe.
Watch the video above for more on how people are getting around the construction.
WATCH: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has sent an urgent request to the provincial government asking for a change to the city's charter, after a bizarre public hearing that saw people calling in from outside Canada. Travis Prasad reports.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim held an emergency meeting with the city manager and police chief on Thursday, after a bizarre public hearing that received many calls from the United States.
People from outside Vancouver and even outside Canada called into a public hearing on the city’s controversial villages plan.
Councillors grilled the callers on their reason for phoning in and if they had any connection to Vancouver.
The plan would rezone 17 single-family neighbourhoods to allow six-storey multi-unit buildings.
With the influx of callers, Wednesday’s public hearing went from morning to midnight.
“We do not want that democratic institution disturbed or disrupted,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said, calling it an act of foreign interference.
“Individuals who have no connection to Canada, who have no connection to Vancouver, who are calling from a foreign country to clog up our system. That’s where people will lose confidence,” Sim added.
A B.C. hospitality union, Unite Here Local 40, says it organized some of the out-of-town speakers, including some from California.
The union argues that the villages plan benefits developers without guaranteeing affordable housing.
“I think it’s just bad form to encourage this as an active campaign, and it does not benefit anyone perhaps other than donors or interested parties,” said Pete Fry, a Vancouver city councillor with the Green Party.
“But it certainly doesn’t impact the outcome of our decision making.”
Vancouver police confirmed they are investigating and say if the calls meet the threshold of foreign interference, they could be referred to the RCMP.
“We’re going to take it seriously because we can’t have people interfering, if that’s the case, in our institutions, in our city, in what’s going on locally that impacts you and I from somewhere abroad,” Chief Const. Steve Rai with the Vancouver Police Department, said.
“So we’re going to look at that seriously.”
Sim is asking the province to amend the Vancouver Charter so only Canadians can register to speak at public hearings.
Heat and air quality warnings remain in place Thursday for the Okanagan as a number of wildfires continue to burn in the region. The hazy conditions are expected to linger for at least the next day or two. Klaudia Van Emmerik has the details.
Thick wildfire smoke shrouded Kelowna, B.C., on Thursday, obscuring the city’s signature lake views, disrupting tourism and prompting public health officials to urge residents to limit their exposure.
What is typically a postcard-worthy view of Okanagan Lake was barely visible as smoke settled over Kelowna and surrounding communities.
“It’s awful, I can’t see anything,” said Gina Hill, who is visiting from Ontario.
The smoky skies were a dramatic contrast to the much clearer conditions seen just 24 hours earlier.
“I wasn’t really expecting this this fast, though, because yesterday I had a couple friends here and they said it was pretty nice,” said Edmonton resident Robyn Papirny.
The sudden deterioration in air quality also forced some visitors to change their plans.
“We cancelled some of our plans to go up to the trestles to ride bikes,” said Darryl Dreger, visiting from Alberta.
The smoke is also taking a toll on local businesses.
Sandra Ng, owner of the Aloha Okanagan food truck, said fewer people are visiting beaches and parks because of the poor air quality.
“We’re going to have to possibly shorten our hours, possibly close early, maybe not open some of the days,” Ng said.
“This is our season. This is like when we do the most business, so if we’re reducing the number of days that we’re working, obviously we are majorly impacted financially.”
The smoky conditions were reflected in the region’s air quality readings.
On Thursday, the Air Quality Health Index reached 10+, the highest risk category on the scale.
“At that level, that’s when the general population should be reducing their strenuous outdoor activities,” said Dr. Andy Delli Pizzi, medical health officer with Interior Health.
Interior Health is also reminding residents that limiting exposure to wildfire smoke is especially important for seniors, young children, people who are pregnant and those living with chronic medical conditions.
“Things like lung disease, COPD or asthma, or for people who have heart disease — wildfire smoke can make those illnesses worse,” Delli Pizzi said.
“If people are feeling unwell with shortness of breath or chest pain, then that’s a reason to either call 9-1-1 if it’s an emergency or you can call 8-1-1 for advice otherwise.”
According to Global meteorologist Peter Quinlan, the smoke is expected to linger for several days.
While mornings may bring temporary relief, wildfire activity typically intensifies through the afternoon, causing smoke conditions to fluctuate throughout the day.
For many residents, however, smoky summers have become an unfortunate reality.
“It’s expected,” said Kelowna resident Steve Montgomery. “Nothing new about it.”
At least a dozen homes or other structures have been destroyed, and many others are being threatened by a string of out-of-control wildfires, which have also forced the closure of two major highways. Taya Fast reports.
B.C. officials confirmed on Thursday that structures have been destroyed or “impacted” by the Fiftynine Creek wildfire, burning near the Village of Clinton.
“I’d say we have at least a dozen properties where structures have been fully destroyed, again homes or secondary properties or other structures, even garages or sheds,” Colton Davies with the Thompson Nicola Regional District told Global News.
“This fire came up so fast on Friday and a lot of folks would not have had time to prepare for even the evacuation alert before it was switched to a tactical evacuation order.”
In the Fraser Canyon, where three massive fires, called the Brunswick Creek Complex, are burning, the past few days have been heartbreaking for a farm owner in North Bend.
They have been watching through doorbell cameras as flames burned closer to their home.
“I obviously didn’t sleep all night,” Tami Dalpadado told Global News.
She said she only had minutes to turn on the sprinklers and grab her pets, but she had to leave her farm animals behind.
“Unfortunately, the fire was like 500 meters from us, so the goats, we opened their stalls and let them run,” she said.
Dalpadado’s home is still standing, but she said the outbuildings and equipment have burned in the fire.
At least seven other structures have been lost in the Fraser Canyon so far, wildfire officials said.
The Brunswick Creek Complex has burned tens of thousands of hectares.
“The fire behaviour is still too high for direct attack, so our crews are working structural protection and structural defence down around the communities and along and the other values kind of along that Fraser Canyon corridor,” Gordon Robinson, the fire information officer for the Brunswick Complex with the BC Wildfire Service, said.
The wildfires are also disrupting travel.
Highway 1 remains closed through the Fraser Canyon due to the Brunswick Complex and Highway 3 is shut down through Manning Park due to the Norwegian Creek wildfire.
The Coquihalla Highway remains the only highway connecting the Lower Mainland and the Interior. A truck fire near Kamloops shut down the southbound lanes for a while on Thursday afternoon.
Hot and dry conditions and more wind remain in the forecast and wildfire officials warn that the threat is far from over.
Police and wildfire crews are again urging anyone under an evacuation order to leave immediately, saying every resident who stays behind can hinder firefighting operations.
RELATED: Support for displaced animals during wildfires
The NDP is repeating its call for a public inquiry into Ontario’s response to this summer’s forest fires as 180 blazes continue to burn in the north.
First Nations leaders have said the Ontario government left communities to fend for themselves without timely support for evacuations.
Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford said his government did everything it could to respond to the wildfires. The province has said some of the blazes spread so quickly they were only seen once they were dangerously close to First Nations.
On Thursday, Stiles reiterated her call for a public deep dive into the response when the fires have cooled.
“We need to know how this happened and we need to know how we can make sure that the people of Ontario are never put at such risk again,” she said at Queen’s Park.
“Now I want to be very, very clear. The priority in this moment is fighting that fire. That is the priority right now. But I am going to keep calling for that public inquiry.”
It’s the same request a group of First Nations leaders and chiefs made this week as they eviscerated the government’s wildfire response.
The chiefs said some residents were forced to organize their own evacuations and received little warning or assistance as wildfires approached their communities.
They also accuse the Ministry of Natural Resources of ignoring recommendations to improve wildfire preparedness and emergency response, despite years of warnings from Indigenous leaders.
The demands come as Ontario’s wildfire season is on track to become the province’s worst on record. More than 7,250 square kilometres have burned so far this year.
The government appears to be resisting the calls.
“As is the case every fire season, the Ministry of Natural Resources will conduct an after-action review to inform future responses,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement.
These after-action reviews help inform several improvements to Ontario’s wildland fire program, including the addition of nearly 170 permanent positions since 2024, the creation of permanent crew leadership roles, enhanced recruitment and retention measures, investments in aviation capacity and equipment, and ongoing enhancements to the health, safety, and well-being of front-line personnel.”
Stiles disagreed with the characterization, saying she didn’t believe they’d made a meaningful difference.
“Those reviews have not resulted in a change or, in fact, in better preparedness,” she said. “And that is what I have heard from wildland firefighters. It’s the concerns we are hearing from First Nations.”
— with files from Global News’ Alessia Simona Maratta and The Canadian Press
Record June rainfall and several intense July storms has severely affected the growing season for farmers areas of central Alberta. As Joel Gotlib reports, states of agricultural disaster have been declared north of Edmonton in Thorhild County and Westlock County.
Relentless summer rainfalls has led to two rural counties to declare a state of agricultural disaster north of Edmonton.
Farms in Westlock and Thorhild counties have been drenched by precipitation, leading local politicians to make the calls last week.
The DeWindt family has been farming near the hamlet of Thorhild for decades and the man at the helm can’t recall a summer as wet as this.
“Once that ground is saturated, it’s like a sponge — you just can’t rid of it,” Harry DeWindt said. “It’s draining, but it’s so wet… it’s just unreal.”
Thorhild County declared a state of agricultural disaster on July 17 because of record rainfall in June and a series of intense July storms.
The county said the declaration acknowledges the significant impacts adverse weather conditions have had on farming operations, and also serve to raise awareness with provincial and federal governments about the challenges the agricultural community is facing.
The distance between the Thorhild and Westlock is about 50 kilometres and is scattered with saturated fields.
A saturated canola field on the DeWindt Farm near Thorhild, Alta. on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
Global News
Westlock County council declared its state of agricultural disaster on July 12, citing excessive moisture conditions that have resulted in saturated soils, drowned-out crop acres, forced heading in grain crops, reduced yield potential, and below-average hay and silage production.
Westlock also acknowledged the declaration does not automatically trigger municipal, provincial or federal funding assistance but does help raise awareness of the struggles farmers are experiencing.
DeWindt, who grows canola, wheat, barley and peas, said at this stage he’s lost 25 to 30 per cent of his crops — but won’t be able to fully assess his losses until he knows what the yields will be like later this year.
The poor growing conditions are bound to have a ripple effect on the local economy. DeWindt admits he won’t be buying any new farm equipment this year because of the overabundance of precipitation.
Some other farmers are reporting crop losses of up to 50 per cent.
A saturated canola field on the DeWindt Farm near Thorhild, Alta. on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
Global News
“This is farming right?” Thorhild County Reeve Trevor Dafoe said. “It’s weather-dependent so we just need some warm, dry weather for a few weeks to help get things back on track.”
Oddly enough, DeWindt suggests if things get worse — it could actually be better for his bottom line, at this point.
“What do we need now? Well to be really honestm I hope we get 100 per cent hail,” he said, explaining more insurance would kick in. “Then we get paid out on every acre, we don’t have to start to combine, no more expenses.
“The torture stops.”
So far, there’s no financial help from the federal or provincial governments.
“We recognize the significant challenges excess moisture conditions have created for Alberta’s agricultural sector in affected regions. These storms have led to a loss of yield, delayed spraying, and made it difficult for producers to move livestock,” said a statement by a spokesperson for Alberta’s agriculture minister.
“Agriculture and Irrigation continues to monitor the moisture and crop conditions for the growing season and regularly communicate with producers, agricultural organizations and commodity groups to get updates on latest concerns.”
The situation is leaving affected farmers to apply for cop insurance, which covers up to 80 per cent of their average yield.
As for consumers, DeWindt points out the prices for wheat and canola are already going up and with waterlogged fields, those prices could rise even further in the coming weeks and months.
The search for Parker, a missing neurodivergent, non-verbal 11-year-old boy, has entered its eighth day. Calgarians continue to search their yards, while the Calgary Police Services says it's not scaling back it's efforts and continues to use every tool available to bring him home. Meghan Cobb reports.
The search for 11-year-old Parker, a missing Calgary boy who is the subject of an Amber Alert, is in its eighth day.
“A lot of phone calls with the police. They’ve been asking questions, searching the property themselves, the owners of our vacant property that’s listed for sale, they’ve been coming daily to check, just to see inside, outside,” said Justine Poirier, a real estate agent with The Real Estate District.
“I was here yesterday doing my part to see. I’ve looked at every cabinet, opened up everything, the shed, the garage, just to — you never know, could he have popped in if someone went to look at the garage during a showing. So it’s … been busy,” Poirier said as she did another search on one of the homes she has listed for sale on Thomas Street Northeast.
Calgary real estate agent, Justine Poirier, searches the confined areas of a property she has listed for sale, for any sign of the missing 11-year-old Calgary boy.
The streets are in the same neighbourhood where Parker was last spotted — in the 5000 to 6000 block of Travis Crescent on Thursday, July 16 around 12:52 p.m.
“So in the real estate industry, us realtors, we’ve all grouped together. Someone started a spreadsheet of all the vacant properties or listings in and around Thorncliffe and every realtor has been trying to be like, ‘OK, I’ll go check this one, you go check that one,'” said Poirier.
“One of our colleagues, he is a very close friend of the family. He’s also been working around the clock also trying to help.
“We’re all banding together.”
And Poirier believes their work has helped police, saying “they took some of our footage from our doorbell cam.”
Poirier told Global News she believes it is number 7 on the map that police released on Wednesday, showing the route Parker is confirmed to have travelled before he disappeared.
On Wednesday, Calgary police released this map showing the locations where the missing 11-year-old boy was last seen on July 16.
Source: Calgary police
Police have said that Parker is neurodivergent and has non-verbal autism. He may become frightened if approached by strangers.
He is also known to enter accessible buildings and to lock doors behind him.
Investigators have asked anyone who does spot him not to approach, but instead keep him in sight and call 9-1-1 immediately.
Calgary police said Thursday that so far more than 550 officers have been involved in the ground search for Parker, walking over 7,000 km.
More than 100 investigators also continue to canvass homes, review more than 2,000 clips from CCTV and doorbell cameras from more than 175 locations and follow up on more than 550 tips.
The Calgary Fire Department aquatics and technical rescue teams have also been searching other difficult to access areas such as confined spaces, Nose Creek and other various water bodies using inflatable boats, underwater cameras and sometimes by just walking through the water.
Members of the Calgary Fire Department have also been searching water bodies and confined spaces for any sign of the missing boy.
Facebook/yycfire
It is a search that has captivated the city with hundreds of trained search and rescue crews and ordinary Calgarians also taking part.
“Us realtors, the general public — just looking on the searches that I’ve been doing (at) all the people walking around, you can tell they’re also looking,” Poirier added.
“I’ve seen people in search and rescue outfits, normal clothes, police officers. It truly is a huge band of the city trying to help.”
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