Top Stories – June 9 – Graduation!

UBC Okanagan’s graduating Class of 2022 will be remembered for two things: its size… the largest group of graduates in the campus’s history, and the fact it will be the first in-person convocation ceremony in more than two years. Today and tomorrow UBCO will confer more than 24-hundred degrees in six different graduating ceremonies.

The transportation minister gave an update on progress of the Kicking Horse Canyon project. Rob Fleming says Year 1 includes construction of Bighorn Bridge, the project’s longest bridge at 160 metres, where girders have recently been installed. Completion is targeted for the winter of 2023/24 with the next full highway closures to come this Fall.

The University of Calgary analyzed over 6 million tweets and retweets and where they originated from. It found that Canada is being targeted by foreign powers trying to influence public opinion. Millions of tweets and retweets about the war in Ukraine can be traced back to Russia and China, with millions more expressing pro-Russian views, coming from the U-S.

There is still a lot of snow to melt in the mountains around here. A month ago the snow pack was 96 percent of normal, but with the cool Spring, that has jumped to 153 percent. The BC River Forecast Centre says weather conditions through June and July will determine the timing, magnitude, and rate of snow melt and the chance of flooding.

Dollarama has started rolling out new prices up to $5 as it adds new products and restocks others amid a shift in consumer spending patterns. The dollar store will now stock goods from under $1 to $5. The retailer reported higher sales and profit in the quarter ended May 1.

The non-political parliamentary budget office estimates the Canada Child Benefit program would cost 1.1 billion dollars more over the 2021-2024 fiscal years. That would have happened if pandemic supports had not been paid out to families and the employment insurance program had not been interrupted by COVID. The benefit was introduced in 2016 as a tax-free means-tested benefit.

The SPCA is pushing back against a new rodeo planned for Langley over the Labour Day long weekend. It wouldn’t feature events like chuck wagon races, but organizers would like to include bucking broncs and bull riding. The SPCA says horse riding skills can be showcased in ways that don’t cause fear, anxiety or pain to animals.

The best way to keep mosquitoes from thriving around your property is to remove any standing water sources. Even a few millimetres of water can be enough for mosquito larva to hatch and become biting adults. If you have a bird bath, change the water frequently. Mosquitoes usually peak between mid-June and the end of July.

Ukrainian workers pulled scores of bodies from smashed buildings inside the devastated city of Mariupol. In many of the buildings, workers are finding 50 to 100 bodies as the fighting continues in the country’s Eastern industrial heartland. Mariupol authorities estimate at least 21-thousand civilians were killed during the weeks-long Russian siege.

Sports

What is now a best of 3 NHL Eastern conference final begins tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning both have 2 wins in their playoff series.

The 2022 CFL season gets underway tonight with just 1 game. The Montreal Alouettes are in Calgary to take on the Stampeders at 6. The Lions host Edmonton on Saturday.

Canada’s big event on the PGA tour gets under way today at Saint George’s in Toronto. The RBC Canadian Open has attracted notable golfers such as Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and of course Canada’s own, Corey Conners.

We learned yesterday that Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl played through a high-ankle sprain during most of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was injured during a tussle with Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson in Game 6 of Round 1.

The Blue Jays could not make it 3 in a row against MLB’s worst team as they dropped an 8-4 decision to the Royals in Kansas City yesterday afternoon. Toronto heads to Detroit for a weekend series starting tomorrow.

And Attention Walmart Shoppers, we now own the Denver Broncos. The Walton-Penner family has a deal to buy the NFL team for a record 4.65 Billion dollars. It still has to be approved by league ownership.