A heat warning is in effect in the Ottawa region today with some reprieve expected this evening, according to Environment Canada. Showers and thunderstorms are predicted throughout the day and into the night. The forecast high is 30C with a low of 20C.
Ottawa child-care centres able to increase group sizes today
For weeks Ottawa child-care centres have had a maximum of 10 children to adjust to the new measures required to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but beginning today, they can increase the size of their groups to 15 children. As the CBC reports, the Ontario government and Ottawa Public Health had given the centres a long list of requirements necessary for widespread reopenings, and that meant extensive planning and training for staff. “Having that smaller number (at the) start has been helpful, because it’s just given us that time to practise a little bit and really think it through,” Kim Hiscott, executive director of Andrew Fleck Child Services, told CBC. Some of the protocols include daily screenings and temperature checks for the children as well as cleaning the playground between each group’s time and an emphasis on more individual activities.
North Grenville man charged with second-degree murder after women found dead in supportive living home
A North Grenville man has been charged with second-degree murder after a staff member at a supportive living home in Kemptville was found dead Friday night. As the Ottawa Citizen reports, the OPP has identified the victim as Ottawa resident Karen Gottschalk-Millar. Police said her body was found during a response to a 9-1-1 call after 9 p.m. on Friday at the residence on County Road 18. Police said Sunday that Kyle Pflieger was arrested at the scene and was charged with second-degree murder and assaulting a peace officer. Some residents of the area told the Citizen the incident hasn’t shaken their feeling of safety within the community, while another said it fueled her previous concerns about the group home.
NHL teams playing in restarted season move into secure zones in Edmonton and Toronto
The 24 teams participating in the NHL’s restart of the 2019-20 season moved into secure zones in two Canadian cities, Edmonton and Toronto, in preparation for a return to games. While in these bubbles, the players will stay in tightly-monitored hotels where they are separated from the cities’ general population. They will be tested daily for COVID-19. The NHL reported two positive tests during training camps and said it expected there to be more positive tests while the teams are in the bubbles, but they have plans in place for that scenario. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said he was comfortable with the procedures set up, as well as with the seriousness with which the players are responding to those procedures. Exhibition games will start tomorrow. Global News has more.
New study predicts a grim future for polar bears in Canada’s Arctic
A University of Toronto-led study, released this week, paints a grim picture of the future of polar bears — especially those in the low Arctic, Global News reports. The analysis estimated when certain polar bear groups will begin to struggle. For instance, the survey reported that polar bear cubs in the south of Hudson Bay will become “highly likely at risk, under an intermediate climate change scenario,” within the next decade. It also reports that cubs in other regions will follow suit in the next decades. The reproductive patterns of the iconic bears are affected by the thinning and retreating summer sea, which they use as a platform for hunting seals. The loss of ice is causing the predators to rely on less energy-rich foods and thus fast for long periods of time. “The results weren’t surprising, but it is nonetheless important. And I hope it emphasizes the urgency of the problem, now actually to be able to put a timeline on these changes,” said the lead author Péter Molnár.
Hutterite colonies feel discriminated against after outbreaks of COVID-19
Outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported in Hutterite colonies across Western Canada and the resulting reaction to press conferences and media coverage highlighting the outbreaks has made members of the those communities feel like targets of discrimination. Despite authorities telling the public not to discriminate against or stigmatize the communities, members of one Hutterite colony in Saskatchewan with no COVID-19 cases say they feel unfairly treated. Paul Waldner, a minister from the CanAm Hutterite Colony in Manitoba, penned an open letter to the province’s premier and health minister saying he would file a human rights complaint since officials informed the public that outbreaks had occurred in Hutterite colonies. “People have become scared of us,” Waldner told CTV News. Manitoba’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said that only the health district where an outbreak happens will be named from now on in order to make the information for the public more generic.