Will Ontario follow Quebec’s lead with new coronavirus measures? Travis Dhanraj reports.
There was no distribution plan for the coronavirus vaccine set up by the Trump administration as the virus raged in its last months in office, new President Joe Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, said on Sunday. "The process to distribute the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals out into the community as a whole, did not really exist when we came into the White House," Klain said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Biden, a Democrat who took over from Republican President Donald Trump on Wednesday, has promised a fierce fight against the pandemic that killed 400,000 people in the United States under Trump’s watch.
Guyana said late on Saturday that a Venezuelan navy vessel detained two vessels that were fishing in Guyana's exclusive economic zone, the latest dispute in a long-running border conflict between the two South American nations. Caracas says much of eastern Guyana is its own territory, a claim that is rejected by Georgetown. The conflict has flared up in recent years as Guyana has started developing oil reserves near the disputed area.
Egypt began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Sunday using the jab developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The vaccine will be provided free of charge first to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, Health Minister Hala Zayed said.
VANCOUVER — Dentists and teachers are among the groups that are disappointed they won't be given priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia. B.C. rolled out its vaccination plan on Friday, revealing that after the most vulnerable groups have been immunized, shots will be given out according to age, with the oldest residents first in line. That means many people who have not been able to work from home during the pandemic, including grocery store workers, police officers and bus drivers, will have to wait to get the vaccine along with others in their age group. The British Columbia Dental Association has written a letter to Premier John Horgan strongly urging him to include dentists in stage two of the vaccination plan, alongside family doctors and medical specialists. The B.C. Teachers' Federation says it's disappointed there is no prioritization for frontline workers who have kept schools open, but it acknowledges the vaccine supply is beyond its control and those who are most vulnerable must be immunized first. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that scientific evidence supports an age-based approach because older populations are at much higher risk of infection and death from COVID-19. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021. The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Many residents of British Columbia's south coast woke up to rain on Sunday after expecting an overnight snow dump, but Environment Canada warns snow is still in the forecast. The federal weather agency updated its snowfall warnings for the region early Sunday morning, saying that between two to 15 centimetres are expected by Monday morning. It says communities near the water such as Comox, Parksville, Nanaimo and lower elevations of Metro Vancouver could see up to five centimetres of snow, while rain or wet snow is also possible in these areas with no accumulations. Higher elevations and inland sections of Metro Vancouver, the western Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast are expected to see greater accumulations. Environment Canada says precipitation is expected to ease Sunday afternoon and then return in the evening, with snowfall at night and on Monday mainly accumulating over higher elevations. The agency is asking residents to be prepared to adjust their driving with changing road conditions, as rapidly falling snow could make travel difficult in some locations. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021. The Canadian Press
For two Virginia police officers who posed for a photo during the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, the reckoning has been swift and public: They were identified, charged with crimes and arrested. But for five Seattle officers the outcome is less clear. Their identities still secret, two are on leave and three continue to work while a police watchdog investigates whether their actions in the nation's capital on Jan. 6 crossed the line from protected political speech to lawbreaking. The contrasting cases highlight the dilemma faced by police departments nationwide as they review the behaviour of dozens of officers who were in Washington the day of the riot by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officials and experts agree that officers who were involved in the melee should be fired and charged for their role. But what about those officers who attended only the Trump rally before the riot? How does a department balance an officer's free speech rights with the blow to public trust that comes from the attendance of law enforcement at an event with far-right militants and white nationalists who went on to assault the seat of American democracy? An Associated Press survey of law enforcement agencies nationwide found that at least 31 officers in 12 states are being scrutinized by their supervisors for their behaviour in the District of Columbia or face criminal charges for participating in the riot. Officials are looking into whether the officers violated any laws or policies or participated in the violence while in Washington. A Capitol Police officer died after he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as rioters descended on the building and many other officers were injured. A woman was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos. Most of the officers have not been publicly identified; only a few have been charged. Some were identified by online sleuths. Others were reported by their colleagues or turned themselves in. They come from some of the country’s largest cities — three Los Angeles officers and a sheriff’s deputy, for instance — as well as state agencies and a Pennsylvania police department with nine officers. Among them are an Oklahoma sheriff and New Hampshire police chief who have acknowledged being at the rally, but denied entering the Capitol or breaking the law. “If they were off-duty, it’s totally free speech,” said Will Aitchison, a lawyer in Portland, Oregon, who represents law enforcement officers. “People have the right to express their political views regardless of who’s standing next to them. You just don’t get guilt by association.” But Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a professor at Case Western Reserve University law school, said an officer’s presence at the rally creates a credibility issue as law enforcement agencies work to repair community trust, especially after last summer's of protests against police brutality sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Communities will question the integrity of officers who attended the rally along with “individuals who proudly profess racist and divisive viewpoints,” she said. “It calls into question whether those officers are interested in engaging in policing in a way that builds trust and legitimacy in all communities, including communities of colour.” In Rocky Mount, a Virginia town of about 1,000, Sgt. Thomas Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker were suspended without pay and face criminal charges after posting a photo of themselves inside the Capitol during the riot. According to court records, Robertson wrote on social media that the “Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem … The right IN ONE DAY took the f(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.” Attempts to contact the pair were unsuccessful and court records do not list lawyers. Leaders in Rocky Mount declined to be interviewed. In a statement, they said the events at the Capitol were tragic. “We stand with and add our support to those who have denounced the violence and illegal activity that took place that day,” said Police Chief Ken Criner, Capt. Mark Lovern and Town Manager James Ervin. “Our town and our police department absolutely does not condone illegal or unethical behaviour by anyone, including our officers and staff.” On the other side of the county, five Seattle officers are under investigation by the city’s Office of Police Accountability. Two officers posted photos of themselves on social media while in the district and officials are investigating to determine where they were and what they were doing. Three others told supervisors that they went to Washington for the events and are being investigated for what they did while there. Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said his department supports officers’ freedom of speech and that those who were in the nation's capital will be fired if they “were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.” But police leaders need to evaluate more than just clear criminal behaviour, according to Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a policing research and policy group. They must also consider how their actions affect the department credibility, he said. Officers' First Amendment rights “don’t extend to expressing words that may be violent or maybe express some prejudice,” Wexler said, “because that’s going to reflect on what they do when they’re working, when they’re testifying in court.” Through the summer and fall, Seattle police — along with officers elsewhere — came under criticism for their handling of mass protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. The city received more than 19,000 complaints against officers, most for excessive use of force and improper use of pepper spray. Andrew Myerberg, director of the Seattle Office of Police Accountability, said none of the officers now under investigation were involved in those cases. But Sakara Remmu, cofounder of Black Lives Matter Seattle/King County, said the officers should be fired regardless. Their public declarations of solidarity with Trump fosters not just community distrust, but terror of the entire department, she said. “It absolutely does matter when the decorum of racial peace cracks and racial hatred comes through, because we already have a documented history and legacy of what that means in this country,” Remmu said. In Houston, the police chief decried an officer who resigned and was later charged in the riot. A lawyer for Officer Tam Pham said the 18-year veteran of the force "very much regrets” being at the rally and was “deeply remorseful.” But many chiefs have said their officers committed no crimes. “The Arkansas State Police respects the rights and freedom of an employee to use their leave time as the employee may choose,” department spokesman Bill Sadler said of two officers who attended the Trump rally. Malik Aziz, the former chair and executive director of the National Black Police Association, compared condemning all officers who were in Washington to tarring all the protesters who took to streets after the killing of George Floyd with the violent and destructive acts of some. A major with the Dallas Police Department, Aziz said police acting privately have the same rights as other Americans, but that knowingly going to a bigoted event should be disqualifying for an officer. “There’s no place in law enforcement for that individual,” Aziz said. Martha Bellisle And Jake Bleiberg, The Associated Press
CORNER BROOK, N.L. — A 24-year-old man from Fort McMurray, Alta., is facing numerous charges including failing to self-isolate, following a traffic stop early this morning in Corner Brook, N.L. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary says they stopped a vehicle shortly before 4 a.m. and the driver fled on foot. In a release, they say the driver was quickly apprehended and now faces charges of impaired operation of a motor vehicle, refusal, and obstructing a peace officer. He is also charged with failing to self-isolate after arriving in the province on Jan. 22. He has been ordered to appear in court on on February 9. Police say the driver was also given a 90 day driving suspension and the vehicle was impounded. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021. The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The federal government has approved an Ottawa company's made-in-Canada rapid COVID-19 test, Health Canada confirmed Saturday as the nation's top doctor warned the virus's impact on the health-care system showed no signs of abating. The test developed by Spartan Bioscience is performed by a health-care professional and provides on-site results within an hour, a spokeswoman for the federal agency said. Spartan bills the test as the first "truly mobile, rapid PCR test for COVID-19 for the Canadian market.""The Spartan system will be able to provide quality results to remote communities, industries and settings with limited lab access, helping relieve the burden on overwhelmed healthcare facilities," the company said in a news release Saturday. The company originally unveiled a rapid test for COVID-19 last spring but had to voluntarily recall it and perform additional studies after Health Canada expressed some reservations.At the time, Spartan said Health Canada was concerned about the "efficacy of the proprietary swab" for the testing product.The new version uses "any nasopharyngeal swab" rather than one of the company's own design, Health Canada said, and meets the agency's requirements for both safety and effectiveness. The Spartan COVID-19 System was developed through clinical evaluation completed in Canada and the U.S., with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute as one of the testing locations. The company said it has already started production on the rapid tests. The news comes as Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, warned that COVID-19 continues to strain the health-care system even as daily case counts decline in several long-standing hot spots. "As severe outcomes lag behind increased disease activity, we can expect to see ongoing heavy impacts on our healthcare system and health workforce for weeks to come," she said in a written statement. Surging new infection rates continued to show signs of easing in multiple provinces, though one jurisdiction was poised to impose new restrictions in a bid to stem the ongoing spread.Public health officials in New Brunswick reported 17 new cases across the province, 10 of which were in the Edmundston region, which was set to go into a lockdown first thing Sunday morning.Starting at midnight, non-essential travel is prohibited in and out of the area, which borders northern Maine and Quebec's Bas-St-Laurent region. The health order forces the closure of all non-essential businesses as well as schools and public spaces, including outdoor ice rinks and ski hills. All indoor and outdoor gatherings among people of different households are prohibited.Saskatchewan, meanwhile, logged 274 new cases of the virus and three new deaths, while Manitoba counted three more deaths and 216 new diagnoses. Alberta logged 573 new cases and 13 virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, while both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new infections on Saturday. Both Quebec and Ontario reported fewer cases Saturday — 1,685 and 2,359 respectively.But officials in Ontario expressed concern about a highly contagious U.K. variant of the virus that was detected at a long-term care facility north of Toronto.Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit confirmed the variant was behind the outbreak at Roberta Place Retirement Lodge in Barrie, Ont., where 32 residents have died of COVID-19 and dozens of others have tested positive."Stringent and consistent efforts are needed to sustain a downward trend in case counts and strongly suppress COVID-19 activity across Canada," Tam said. "This will not only prevent more tragic outcomes, but will help to ensure that new virus variants of concern do not have the opportunity to spread."Fears of variants that can circulate quickly come as the federal government considers a mandatory quarantine in hotels for travellers returning to Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2021. Victoria Ahearn and Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version erroneously quoted Health Canada as saying the test needs to be administered by a doctor. In fact, the swab must be performed by a health-care professional.
TORONTO — The Canadian military is set to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Indigenous communities in northern Ontario.Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says on Twitter the Canadian Armed Forces will support vaccine efforts in 32 communities of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.The move comes after a request from the province for assistance in getting vaccines to First Nation communities.The Canadian military has already helped with vaccines in the community of Nain in Newfoundland and Labrador.Ontario is reporting 2,417 new cases of COVID-19 today and 50 more deaths related to the virus.Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 785 new cases in Toronto, 404 in Peel Region, 215 in York Region and 121 in Niagara.Over 48,900 tests have been completed in Ontario over the past 24 hours.The province is reporting that 4,427 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since the province's last report, and 1,436 are hospitalized with the virus.A total of 280,573 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario so far.Since the pandemic began, there have been 255,002 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario. Of those, 225,046 have recovered and 5,803 people have died.The numbers are slightly up from Saturday's 2,359 cases, though deaths declined by two from previous figures. Officials say a male teen who worked in a long-term care home is among the three deaths reported on the Middlesex-London region's COVID-19 case site in southwestern Ontario on Saturday. A spokesman for the Middlesex-London Health Unit says they can't provide the exact age or any other details about him, but added he is the youngest person with COVID-19 in the county to have died from the virus.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021. The Canadian Press Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said there had been 102 deaths in Ontario over the past 24 hours. There were, in fact, 50 deaths.
En se consumant de l’intérieur, les terrils (ces accumulations de déchets liés à l’exploitation minière) ont provoqué de nombreux accidents au cours de l’histoire.
Officials in President Joe Biden's administration tried to head off Republican concerns that his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal was too expensive on a Sunday call with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, some of whom pushed for a smaller plan targeting vaccine distribution. "It seems premature to be considering a package of this size and scope," said Republican Senator Susan Collins, who was on the call with Brian Deese, director of the White House's National Economic Council, and other top Biden aides.
Police in Gatineau, Que., say no charges will be laid in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in the city's Buckingham sector Saturday morning. The death was initially deemed suspicious after police received a 911 call about an unconscious woman at 190 rue Pigeon. Officers were unable to resuscitate the woman upon their arrival, and a man in his 60s was arrested. After police met with witnesses and investigated the scene, however, they determined no criminal act had been committed, according to a press release Sunday. The death is no longer considered suspicious, police said.
Ottawa is reporting 76 new cases of COVID-19 but no new deaths. The number of active cases has dropped to 939. Today's Ottawa update Ottawa Public Health (OPH) recorded 76 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, but zero deaths. The health authority also declared another 125 cases resolved. The infection rate in Ottawa rose to record levels after Christmas, but has started to decline. The current lockdown in eastern Ontario went into effect Dec. 26, and is scheduled to last until Feb. 11. A provincial stay-at-home order is also in effect. Numbers to watch 37: The number of Ottawa residents being treated in hospital for COVID-19, up by three since Saturday. . 0.91: The average number of people infected by a single COVID-19 case, or R(t). Anything below one suggests the spread is coming under control. Across the region In western Quebec, officials confirmed another 23 new cases and one more death on Sunday. Quebec's lockdown is in effect until Feb. 8, and includes an 8 p.m. curfew.
While the world was put on hold for the COVID pandemic, not everything shut down. The Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge, in Pefferlaw, saw a very busy year in 2020. “We usually have just under 5,000 animals come through our doors, and in 2020 we had well over 6,000,” said Shades of Hope founder and wildlife concierge, Gail Lenters. And while they do have some full time staff, who have been bubbling together to continue working through the pandemic, Lenters says the centre usually takes on volunteers as well, which was very hard to do this year. “So we had less help and more animals.” As the spring season approaches, so does the busiest season for the wildlife refuge. Lenters says she is currently in the process of ordering all of the refuge centre’s supplies, including products like special feeds coming from as far away as Australia. “If people want to help, the best thing they can do is to help support financially. We ask people to consider a monthly donation, even $10 a month, that we can budget with.” While it’s not a lot of money, Lenters says it goes a long way to help the refuge plan and purchase the required essentials for proper animal care. Alternatively, dropping off donations of bird seed or cleaning products like paper towel, bleach and laundry detergent, is also greatly appreciated. Lenters wants to encourage everyone to keep an eye out as the warmer weather approaches. “All those creatures are there, nestled in trees, in wood piles and in sheds. Come spring, when you go to clean up, you risk disturbing those little guys.” If any member of the public does find an animal that is believed to be in need of assistance, Lenters suggests using the “Find Out What To Do” button on the Shades of Hope website, or give the refuge a call. Shades of Hope is open seven days a week, “COVID or no COVID,” says Lenters. Visit https://www.shadesofhope.ca to learn more. Justyne Edgell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Uxbridge Cosmos
Après un lent déclin, le rural redevient accueillant, porté par la périurbanisation et rurbanisation. Une tendance accentuée par la pandémie.
WASHINGTON — As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol. House Democrats will carry the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol late Monday evening, a rare and ceremonial walk to the Senate by the prosecutors who will argue their case. They are hoping that strong Republican denunciations of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot will translate into a conviction and a separate vote to bar Trump from holding office again. But instead, GOP passions appear to have cooled since the insurrection. Now that Trump's presidency is over, Republican senators who will serve as jurors in the trial are rallying to his legal defence, as they did during his first impeachment trial last year. “I think the trial is stupid, I think it’s counterproductive,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. He said that "the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it” because he believes it would be bad for the country and further inflame partisan divisions. Trump is the first former president to face impeachment trial, and it will test his grip on the Republican Party as well as the legacy of his tenure, which came to a close as a mob of loyal supporters heeded his rally cry by storming the Capitol and trying to overturn Joe Biden's election. The proceedings will also force Democrats, who have a full sweep of party control of the White House and Congress, to balance their promise to hold the former president accountable while also rushing to deliver on Biden's priorities. Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8. Leaders in both parties agreed to the short delay to give Trump's team and House prosecutors time to prepare and the Senate the chance to confirm some of Biden’s Cabinet nominees. Democrats say the extra days will allow for more evidence to come out about the rioting by Trump supporters, while Republicans hope to craft a unified defence for Trump. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that he hopes that evolving clarity on the details of what happened Jan. 6 “will make it clearer to my colleagues and the American people that we need some accountability.” Coons questioned how his colleagues who were in the Capitol that day could see the insurrection as anything other than a “stunning violation” of tradition of peaceful transfers of power. “It is a critical moment in American history and we have to look at it and look at it hard,” Coons said. An early vote to dismiss the trial probably would not succeed, given that Democrats now control the Senate. Still, the mounting Republican opposition indicates that many GOP senators would eventually vote to acquit Trump. Democrats would need the support of 17 Republicans — a high bar — to convict him. When the House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, exactly one week after the siege, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he didn’t believe the Senate had the constitutional authority to convict Trump after he had left office. On Sunday, Cotton said “the more I talk to other Republican senators, the more they’re beginning to line up” behind that argument. “I think a lot of Americans are going to think it’s strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago,” Cotton said. Democrats reject that argument, pointing to a 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to opinions by many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president who told them to “fight like hell” against election results that were being counted at the time, is necessary so the country can move forward and ensure such a siege never happens again. A few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes there is a “preponderance of opinion” that an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office. “I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offence,” Romney said. “If not, what is?” But Romney, the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump when the Senate acquitted the then-president in last year’s trial, appears to be an outlier. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said he believes a trial is a “moot point” after a president's term is over, “and I think it’s one that they would have a very difficult time in trying to get done within the Senate.” On Friday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally who has been helping him build a legal team, urged the Senate to reject the idea of a post-presidency trial — potentially with a vote to dismiss the charge — and suggested Republicans will scrutinize whether Trump’s words on Jan. 6 were legally “incitement.” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said last week that Trump “provoked” his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote or argued any legal strategies. The Kentucky senator has told his GOP colleagues that it will be a vote of conscience. One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers said Trump’s encouragement of his loyalists before the riot was "an extraordinarily heinous presidential crime." Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania., said "I mean, think back. It was just two-and-a-half weeks ago that the president assembled a mob on the Ellipse of the White House. He incited them with his words. And then he lit the match.” Trump’s supporters invaded the Capitol and interrupted the electoral count as he falsely claimed there was massive fraud in the election and that it was stolen by Biden. Trump’s claims were roundly rejected in the courts, including by judges appointed by Trump, and by state election officials. Rubio and Romney were on “Fox News Sunday,” Cotton appeared on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures” and Romney also was on CNN's “State of the Union,” as was Dean. Rounds was interviewed on NBC's “Meet the Press.” ___ Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report. Mary Clare Jalonick And Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
Sarnia Police Service, Sarnia Fire and Lambton Paramedics responded to a call related to a deceased woman on Saturday evening, according to a Sunday media release. Emergency responders arrived at a residence in the 200 block of Essex Street at around 6:20 p.m. where they found a dead woman — now identified as Sue Elin Lumsden, a 66-year-old Sarnia resident. "Members of the Sarnia Police Service Criminal Investigations Branch have since taken over the investigation and are treating it as a homicide," the statement reads, making it the third death treated as a homicide in the city this month. The investigation is still preliminary and the residence is currently being held as a crime scene. Police urge residents to keep their windows and doors locked and secured. Residents in the area who have video surveillance are asked to contact Sarnia Police Service. Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigations Branch Information Line at 519-344-8861, ext. 5300, or Sarnia Lambton Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden attended Mass for the first time since taking office, worshipping Sunday at the church he frequented when he was vice-president. Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, picked Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington's Georgetown neighbourhood, a few miles from the White House. It's where the nation’s only other Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, often went to Mass. Biden entered through the front entrance, where a Black Lives Matter banner was hanging on one side and a banner with this quote from Pope Francis was on the other. “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden had not yet settled on a home church in the nation’s capital, but said that she expected Biden will continue to regularly attend services during his presidency. At home in Delaware, Biden and his wife, Jill, were regulars at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Greenville. They alternated between the Saturday and Sunday services depending on their travel schedules throughout the 2020 campaign. Catholic faithful have an obligation to attend Sunday services, but church teaching allows for the commitment to be fulfilled by attending a service on the evening of the preceding day. The newly-sworn in Democrat has certainly has plenty of parish choices in Washington: Four Catholic churches sit within 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) of the White House; Holy Trinity is a bit farther. On the morning of his inauguration Wednesday, Biden and his family, along with Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, attended a service at one of those churches, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. The church hosted Kennedy’s funeral service in 1963. With the coronavirus still surging in the capital city, Biden is bound to see small crowds wherever he goes. For the time being, rules in the District of Columbia limit gatherings at houses of worship to 25% of capacity or 250 people, whichever is less. Previous presidents have made a wide variety of worship choices — or none. Not far from the White House is New York Avenue Presbyterian, which maintains the pew where Abraham Lincoln once worshipped. Even closer is St. John’s Episcopal Church, walkable across Lafayette Square from the White House for the presidents who have made a historic practice of worshipping there at least once. St. John’s was thrust into the headlines this summer when police forcibly dispersed protesters so President Donald Trump could pose with a Bible outside its butter-yellow front doors. But its status as the “Church of Presidents” dates to James Madison, and it’s accustomed to the special scrutiny that comes with hosting commanders in chief. Trump, who frequently spent Sundays at his namesake golf club in northern Virginia, was not a regular churchgoer. President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, became members of Foundry United Methodist Church, a short drive from the White House that also counted the 19th president, Rutherford. B. Hayes, as a member. President Jimmy Carter, who in post presidency life taught Sunday school, worshipped dozens of times at Washington’s First Baptist Church during his time in the White House. —- Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Elana Schor contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
The saga around Vancouver's Rio Theatre took yet another twist on Saturday as it reopened as a sports bar to circumvent provincial health regulations which mandate movie theatres to close. It's the latest creative ploy by owner Corrine Lea to keep the indie theatre in its historic building open. "Our marquee says 'screw the arts, we're a sports bar now.' And that's because the arts are getting screwed," she said. Lea does not agree with an order from the provincial health officer that bars the gathering for events such as movies to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Lea said it's unfair that bars and restaurants can stay open, while theatres like hers had to close late last year. "To see all these bars open, and especially sports bars that are playing Canucks games on their big screens, their TV screens, it was really a slap in the face," she said. The Rio Theatre has a liquor licence and so is able to serve beverages such as beer to patrons booking seats to now watch sports like hockey, football and UFC fighting. Watch what Rio Theatre patrons think about their neighbourhood theatre becoming a sports bar: Lea said the hardest part of the transition was figuring out what sports to show. "We were all googling the NFL and the NHL, trying to figure out, what are these sports things?" she said. Just two years ago a seven-month fundraising campaign, which drew the support of people like actor Ryan Reynolds, saved the theatre from redevelopment. Lea said the theatre is complying with all provincial health regulations required for it to operate as a bar as it endures yet another period of uncertainty. On Saturday though, health inspectors showed up at the theatre asking for some last minute changes, which Lea said she wasn't able to do. "We're going ahead ... and I guess we'll be hearing from the health authorities," she said.
