CBC and Toronto International Film Festival honour Charles Officer with new award

TORONTO — The CBC and Toronto International Film Festival have announced a new award in honour of late Canadian filmmaker Charles Officer.

TIFF says the $25,000 award will be presented to a writer/director whose body of work reflects Officer’s “values, artistry and vision.”

Officer, who died in December, was known for helming films that reflected the tough realities faced by Black communities, including 2008’s “Nurse.Fighter.Boy” and 2020’


One of two detainees who escaped from a local jail in Arkansas has been captured

One of two detainees who escaped from a jail in Arkansas this week was captured Thursday, authorities said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Noah Roush, who escaped from the Dub Brassell Adult Detention Center, was found at an abandoned house in Pine Bluff, some 40 miles (more than 60 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock.

Roush and Jatonia Bryant were discovered missing from the county jail on Monday. The sheriff’s office has not said how the two escaped, but it believed the two had


Media workers strike to protest layoffs at New York Daily News, Forbes and Condé Nast

NEW YORK (AP) — Journalists at The New York Daily News and Forbes walked off the job Thursday amid contentious contract talks with management and a difficult few weeks in the news industry.

Both strike are historic: It’s the first-ever at the business-focused magazine in more than a century, and the first at the storied newspaper in more than three decades, according to the NewsGuild of New York.

The one-day strike at the Daily News coincides with Forbes walkout, which runs through Monday.


Toronto Animal Services launches SNYP Truck to provide affordable spaying, neutering

The SNYP Truck is run by Toronto Animal Services and is funded by community donations. Staff perform low-to-no-cost spaying and neutering.

Family of Ricky Cobb II says justice is within reach following Minnesota trooper’s murder charge

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Family, lawyers and activists for — who was fatally shot by a Minnesota state trooper in a July 2023 traffic stop — said Thursday that justice for Cobb is within reach now that the trooper has been charged with murder.

The county attorney’s office announced the day before that it was charging Trooper Ryan Londregan with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter for using deadly force against Cobb. The 33-year-old Black man was


New England Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte charged in illegal sports gaming scheme

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was arrested Thursday on charges related to illegal online gaming while he was under age and played at Louisiana State University, authorities said.

Boutte is accused of creating an online betting account under a fake name and then placing more than 8,900 illegal bets. State police said in a news release that at least 17 of the bets were on NCAA football games. Six were wagers on LSU football, according to a state police


Raheem Morris hired as head coach by Atlanta Falcons, who pass on Bill Belichick

ATLANTA (AP) — Three years ago, the Atlanta Falcons passed on a chance to make Raheem Morris their head coach.

They didn’t let him get away this time — even after an exhaustive search that included six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick.

The Falcons hired the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator on Thursday, bringing back a familiar name who served as Atlanta’s interim coach for the final 11 games of the 2020 season after Dan Quinn was fired.

The 47-year


Remains found at a central Indiana estate are those of a man who has been missing since 1993

WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Remains recovered from the central Indiana estate of a presumed serial killer have been identified as those of a man reported missing in 1993, a coroner said Thursday.

The remains recovered in 1996 at the Fox Hollow Farm estate of Herbert Baumeister were found to match Manuel Resendez, who was 34 when he disappeared, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said.

Resendez was identified through a family reference sample provided in early 2023, Jellison said.

have


Ohio attorney general rejects voting-rights coalition’s ballot petition for a 2nd time

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A coalition of voting-rights groups is vowing to fight on after Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost issued his second rejection Thursday of petition language it has submitted for a proposed constitutional amendment.

Yost found the amendment’s title — “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights” — was “highly misleading and misrepresentative” of the measure’s contents, even as he acknowledged that his office had previously certified identical language. It certified a Nursing Facility Patients’ Bill of Rights in 202


GM’s Cruise robotaxi service targeted in Justice Department inquiry into San Francisco collision

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — General Motors is facing a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a gruesome collision that critically injured a pedestrian and derailed its self-driving car ambitions.

The Justice Department inquiry disclosed Thursday is the latest twist in a debacle that began in October after a robotaxi operated by GM’s Cruise subsidiary dragged a pedestrian about 20 feet (6 meters) after the person was struck in San Francisco by another vehicle driven by a human.

The incident resulted in Cruise’s license to operate