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It’s been 22 years…..but now a citizens group in the city say they’ll ask council today to consider lifting their ban on owing pit bulls.  A ban on the breed was put in place after a series of attacks in the late 80’s.  A spokesperson from the Humane Society says breed-specific legislation is not the way to go….officials need to get to owners and make them responsible.  But councilor Gord Steeves says he supports the ban, saying pit bull bites and attacks went from about 30 a year to zero after the ban was put in place.

City police have expanded the time period they believe a murdered woman’s car was taken to a car wash.  Police think someone drove 73 year old Elizabeth Lafantaisie’s car to a coin operated wash on Osborne, to try and destroy evidence.  Police had initially asked people to call if they saw the blue-grey Pontiac Grand Prix being washed on February 18^th.  But they now say it could have been washed between the 18^th and the 22^nd.  Sadly, Lafantaisie’s frozen body was found in the trunk of her car, and so far police don’t have any suspects.

The U.N. Security Council is using sanctions to try and force Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to stop the slaughter of anti government protestors.  And Canada is now joining that push.  In fact, Ottawa is slapping Libya with tougher sanctions than the U.N.  Meanwhile, a second military transport plant has arrived in Malta this morning to help evacuate 100 Canadians still stranded in Libya.

Not sure why you’d pick this country to vacation but….the feds say they’re working to secure the safe release of a Canadian man reported missing in Afghanistan.  The Taliban issued a statement yesterday claiming to have captured a Canadian man.  Foreign Affairs will only say that Colin Rutherford traveled to Afghanistan as a tourist, and that Canadian officials are working with Afghan authorities to get him released.

A new study out this morning says too many parents suffer from “fever phobia,” and often overtreat their kids with Tylenol and ibuprofen.  Officials say fevers are usually caused by viruses that go away without medicine.  And parents need to remember that a fever is not an illness….rather a mechanism to help fight infection. 

Well it was the “King’s Speech” that took best picture honors at last night’s Academy Awards.  Colin Firth also won the best actor prize for his portrayal of George the 6^th…..Britain’s stammering Kind.  Natalie Portman took home the best actress Oscar for “Black Swan.”  And Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won supporting acting honors for “The Fighter.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister says last week’s 6.3 earthquake which centered around the city of Christchurch, has cost the country around 15 billion dollars.  The quake last Tuesday destroyed or damaged as many as one third of the buildings in that city.  At least 148 people were killed and dozens more are still missing.

Yesterday the province released their new flood forecast……..and once again, everything is really dependant on the weather.  Officials say with another major blizzard, or even big rain storm, things could be as bad as the flood of the century.  So now, it’s simply a wait and see game.  Either way both the province and city hall are preparing for the worst.  Sandbagging machines are already up and running, and ice cutters and those amphibex machines have been out on the rivers breaking up the ice.

One Manitoba man is dead and another seriously injured, this after a modular home slipped and trapped them both beneath it in a lumberyard in Sioux Lookout yesterday.  50 year old Abram Guenther of Plum coulee, was airlifted to HSC but died of his injuries.  The 2^nd man broke both his legs and remains in hospital.  Officials from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Health are now investigating.

Both the Feds and the province have committed 26 million dollars to help Manitoba farmers clean up after their pigs.  Dealing with manure and the threat of water contamination is one of the big problems created by large pig farming operations.  But, over a 3 year period, money will be spent to help farmers build and repair their manure storage structures.

A rape victim is slamming a controversial decision of a Manitoba judge who gave her attacker a lenient sentence…based on the face she may have sent out mixed signals about her sexual intentions.  The 26 year old single mom was accused of flirting and wearing suggestive clothing.  Something the judge said could have been construed as…..”sex was in the air.”  Kenneth Rhodes was accused of forcing this woman to have sex along a darkened highway outside of Thompson in 2006.  Rhodes was given a 2 year conditional sentence last week.

Well high wind continues to prevent some people from fleeing Libya, which is very quickly descending into civil war.  A ferry with almost 300 westerners aboard remains in Tripoli this morning due to rough seas in the Mediterranean. 

Meantime, it does appear more Canadians will be getting out of Libya.  A Jet chartered by the Canadian government has arrived in Tripoli after being delayed for 24 hours.  It’s expected 200 Canadians will hop on board and come home.

Everything seems to be going smoothly aboard Discovery after blasting off yesterday for its final mission.  The shuttle is on an 11 day mission to take spare parts to the International Space Station.

Well if anyone says they are surprised at this news……

CBS has pulled the plug on “Two and a Half Men,” at least for the rest of this season.  Last month, production on the sitcom was suspended to allow Charlie Sheen, the show’s star, to enter rehab.  Well, that apparently didn’t go too well as CBS dropped the show after Sheen did a radio interview where he blasted the show’s producer, A.A., and other targets.

Several hundred Canadians are among the tens of thousands of foreigners trying to flee Libya.  With the situation in Tripoli getting pretty bad, Foreign Affairs scrambled to provide air transportation for those still in the North African nation.  A plane chartered by Ottawa is now in Tripoli, loading up all the Canucks who want to come home.

City police have charged 2 teens in an assault on a teenaged boy at Shaftsbury high school last week.  The fight was actually videotaped and then posted on the internet.  Officers say a 15 year old girl is facing charges of assault causing bodily harm, and a 14 year old boy faces charges of assault with a weapon.  Cops say the 14 year old boy who was bullied suffered minor injuries. 

For the 2^nd time this week, horses that had gotten loose from an enclosure have been killed in collisions on a western Manitoba road.  RCMP say 3 separate early morning collisions on highway 10 killed 3 horses near Boissevain.  The animals were among 12 that were running along the highway. 

2 infant boys are among the latest earthquake victims pulled from toppled buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand.  The death toll from Tuesday’s quake is now at 98, but that number will undoubtedly will rise.  Officials are holding out little hope for the hundreds who are still missing.

The space shuttle Discovery is set to make its last flight.  The launch countdown is now into its final hours, with fuelling set to begin this morning and the launch taking place this afternoon.  NASA says its confident no hydrogen gas will leak, and no cracks will develop in the fuel tanks.  Both those problems cropped up during the initial countdown back in November.

Oil is trading near a whopping 102 dollars a barrel in Asia this morning.  That’s another 4 dollars higher than yesterday’s close.  Traders are blaming the instability in Libya and fears that it will spread to other OPEC nations.  Now meantime, pump prices have jumped between 3 and 4 cents a litre overnight at many gas stations around this country, including Winnipeg.

As many as 220 Canadians are just hours away from an Ottawa organized evacuation effort to fly them out Libya.  The feds have booked a flight to take them from Tripoli to Rome this morning. 

Meantime, both the U.S. and the European Union are considering sanctions and other measures to pressure Moammar Gadhafi’s regime to stop attacks against protestors.  The U.S. calls the crackdowns possible “crimes against humanity.”

Hope is fading of finding any more survivors from Monday’s earthquake that hammered Christchurch, New Zealand.  The official death toll stands at 98 now, with hundreds of others still missing. 

And you’ve heard of firelog t.v., or maybe even a fish channel….but howbout this?  Starting next Monday, Rogers digital customers in Ontario will get a 24 hour chicken channel.  Kid ya not !  For 13 weeks, Swiss Chalet will run a non stop loop of 2 rows of chickens roasting in an open flame oven.  It’ll be very similar to the fireplace, aquarium and even sunset channels which run 24-7.

Well we warned ya it was coming.  The price of gas has jumped up this morning.  Several major Canadian cities saw an increase of 3.5 to 4 cents a litre overnight.  The hike in price is being blamed on the turmoil in Libya, where some major oil companies have shut down their production. 

A special ceremony has been held in the city to honor the recovery team that searched repeatedly for months for that young boy who fell into the Red River back in December.  6 year old Nathaniel Thorassie was playing on thin ice with his brother, when he fell into the freezing water near the Disraeli Bridge.  City police, volunteer divers spent weeks searching for his body….but, it was never found. 

The Crown says it’ll appeal a decision to dismiss a case against 2 Winnipeg police officers accused of perjury.  Constables Peter O’Kane and Jess Zebrun were accused of lying to a magistrate about how they got a search warrant used to enter a hotel room, where they seized drugs and cash.  But their trial came to a sudden end yesterday on a motion from defence lawyers.  They said no Crown witness had properly identified either officer.  The judge agreed, and threw out the charges.

The owner of a Winnipeg tourism agency says the deadly earthquake that his Christchurch, New Zealand, is bound to have an effect on tourism.  Max Johnson of the Great Canadian Travel Compnay says none of his clients were there during the quake, but he says it is a massively popular tourism spot and he expects there were several hundred Canadians there. 

With violence escalating in Libya, Ottawa is now moving in to help Canadians who want to leave the country.  Foreign Affairs says an evacuation flight will arrive tomorrow in Tripoli to help about 90 Canadians who want to leave. 

The legacy of CFL star Bobby Kuntz could be his brain….and how it might help the lives of future athletes.  His family has decided to donate the former football player’s brain to a study at Toronto General Hospital that’s looking at the effects of concussions.  Bob’s widow, Mary, says she agreed to make the donation to help find out what effect the years of hard hitting had on her husband, and whether or not it played a role in his Alzheimer’s disease.

A nighttime curfew has been imposed in Christchurch, New Zealand because of fears of aftershocks from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.  The known death toll from the magnitude 6.3 quake has now climbed to 75.  But that number is expected to rise, considering hundreds are still missing. 

Researchers have found another reason to promote marijuana for people with advanced cancer….it can improve their lives by giving them the munchies.  A new study found small doses of marijuana’s active ingredient, THC, improved the appetite of terminal cancer patients.  In fact, nearly three quarters of patients who got THC pills say their food tasted and smelled better.

Sobering figures have been released showing how fast the feds are piling up debt.  The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says Ottawa is borrowing 124 million dollars a day, and is shelling out 93 million a day in interest.  The federation says that’s not only irresponsible, but it’s also unsustainable unless taxpayers demand balanced budgets.

Get ready for a jump at the pump.  The turmoil in Libya has pushed the price of oil to its highest point in almost 2 and a half years.  After jumping well over 5 dollars a barrel yesterday, it’s up again in trading this morning.  Analysts say this is due in part to 3 international oil companies halting production in Libya, which is Africa’s 3^rd largest oil producing nation.

The lawyer for the man convicted of killing Candace Derksen says it’s likely an appeal will be submitted.  Mark Edward Grant was found guilty of 2^nd degree murder by a jury on Friday night.  His lawyer says his client was disappointed in the jury’s decision and he expects to file the appeal after the sentencing hearing.

3 homes in the Sturgeon Creek area of the city had to be evacuated yesterday after reports of a gas leak.  Drivers and pedestrians were asked to avoid the area while crews worked to repair it.  Officials say a city of Winnipeg crew working in the area hit a service line to a home.  No injuries were reported.

A powerful earthquake has hit one of New Zealand’s biggest cities, knocking over tall buildings and killing at least 65 people.  And, an unknown number of people are feared trapped.  Rescuers and concerned citizens are frantically trying to clear rubble to find those still missing in the city of Christchurch.  So far, there are no reports of any Canadians among the casualties.

The U.N.’s security council will hold an emergency session today to discuss the upheaval in Libya, where calls for the resignation of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi are rising.  And with unrest in the greater Middle East showing no signs of letting up, several western companies are now taking a look at their employee evacuation plans….including at least 3 Canadian companies.

The latest list of the world’s most livable cities features 3 Canadian cities in the Top 5.  For the 5^th year in a row, Vancouver has been ranked as the world’s most livable city of the 140 studied.  The group who did the rankings says their successful hosting of last year’s Olympic games solidified their number one standing.  Toronto came in 4^th on the list, and Calgary placed 5^th.

Well if Oscar voters haven’t made their decisions by now, it’s almost too late.  Their ballots are due at the end of business today.  The Academy Awards will get given out this Sunday in Hollywood.

And yet another reason to get off the couch my friends.  Not only is it good for your heart and lungs, but a new study suggests exercising on a treadmill could also slow down the aging process.  At least that’s what researchers found in lab mice.  Scientists say mice running on a treadmill for 45 mins, 3 times a week, had 100 per cent protection against brain and muscle atrophy, hair loss and greying of the fur.

The clock is ticking again for the shuttle Discovery’s last voyage into orbit.  Liftoff is set for Thursday afternoon, with an 80 per cent chance of good weather.  Discovery and its crew will be carrying supplies and a humanoid robot to the international space station.  Only 2 other shuttle flights will then remain……Endeavor in April and Atlantis in June.

New Zealand has called in the army to help out after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the already bruised city of Christchurch.  There are reports this morning of bodies in the street and under rubble.  Calling it a black day, the city’s Mayor has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to leave the city center.  A major quake hit the exact same area last September.

Well no surprise that much of southern Manitoba was under weather warnings last night, as blizzard like conditions made highway driving a real nightmare.  Mounties say weather was a factor when a pickup slammed into the side of a freight train yesterday, just north of Austin.  The accident killed the male driver and injured 3 of his children. 

The city’s biggest union is telling its workers to reject their latest contract offer.  A vote on the deal is set for today.  Mike Davidson, president of CUPE, says the union does have a strike mandate now and will walk out if needed.  A strike would affect services at arenas, rec centers, libraries as well as snow removal.

It is a long weekend and that’s means we’ve got the usual closures coming up on Monday.  All civic offices will be shut.  Transit will be operating on a Sunday schedule.  Banks will be closed.  There’ll be no garbage or recycling pickup.  Libraries, leisure centers and swimming pools will all be shut Monday.  And there won’t be any mail delivery.

One week after Hosni Mubarak was toppled as Egypt’s president, a victory march is planned for today in Tahrir Square in Cairo.  Leaders of the democracy movement are calling for millions to show up to keep alive the spirit of the 18 day revolt that ended Mubarak’s reign. 

Her unbelievable recovery continues.  U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is laughing at jokes and eating sushi as she continues to recover from that bullet wound to the head she suffered 6 weeks ago.  A top aide to Gifford says, she does know that she was shot…but she doesn’t know the shooting rampage left 6 others dead and 12 more wounded.

Conrad Black is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out his 2 remaining convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice.  Last year, an appeals court in Chicago struck down Black’s 2 other fraud convictions.  And last July, Black was freed from a Florida jail where he spent almost 2 and a half years.  He’s free while the appeal process runs its course.

Robert Latimer says he has no regrets about killing his severely disabled 12 year old daughter in 1993.  Latimer, a farmer from Wilkie, Saskatchewan says he still believes it was a mercy killing aimed at ending her suffering.  He says it was the right thing to do, and wants the justice system to be more flexible in dealing with cases like his.  Latimer was just granted full parole 2 month’s ago, after spending 7 years behind bars.

It was Obama and the nerds….the really rich nerds.  The U.S. President schmoozed with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley yesterday.  During a visit to the San Francisco Bay area, Obama met Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, Apple founder Steve Jobs, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and the heads of Twitter, Oracle and Netflix.  With the U.S. economy still struggling to recover, the President urged the group to spend more money on high tech.

A Toronto police officer has been disciplined for telling women not to dress like sluts when he spoke at a university safety event last month.  Students and staff at the school demanded an apology from this guy…which they did get.  A police spokesperson says the officer’s remarks went against police training on the handling of sexual assault cases.

The U.S. has just released their updated flood forecast.  The report is calling for major flooding for areas along the Red River in North Dakota.  It also predicted that cities like Grand Forks and Fargo have a greater than 90 per cent chance of reaching a major flood stage this spring.  That being said however, officials say levels will be lower than those in 1997.  Here in Manitoba, Water Stewardship officials will release their new spring flood forecast next week.

2 Ontario women have filed a lawsuit over that tragic incident on a Greyhound bus in 2008.  Debra Tucker and Kayli Shaw were both passengers when Vince Li decided he would behead Tim McLean.  The girls are now suing Greyhound, the federal government and RCMP for financial compensation.

The jury in the trial of a Winnipeg man accused of killing a young Candice Doerkson 26 years ago, will resume deliberations this morning.  The Mark Edward Grant case pretty much depends on dueling DNA experts.  The jury started deliberating by the way around 5 p.m. yesterday. 

School divisions across the province are offering their teachers wage freezes this year…..but the teachers are saying that’s just not gonna fly.  Teachers Society president, Pat Issak says economic indicators do not point to a need to freeze wages….and they’ll all be fighting for an increase.

Manitoba businesses could be singing the bedbug blues if a proposed public reporting rule gets any government traction.  On Monday, if you’ll recall, paramedics called for the province to publicly report sites infested with bedbugs, like it does with restaurants found to be unsanitary.  But a spokesperson from Poulin’s Pest Control says public reporting would have a very negative impact and business, and would do little to prevent infestations.

Honda is recalling nearly 700 thousands of its compact vehicles worldwide for a defective spring part that may cause the engine to stall.  In this country, Honda says the recall involves around 15 thousands of its 2009 and 2010 subcompact cars. 

The feds are being urged this morning to cut airport fees and taxes.  The Hotel Association of Canada says up to a third of Canadian travelers drive to the U.S. to catch flights to other American destinations or overseas.  That’s because airport fees and other charges at Canadian airports make a flight much more expensive than it would be to fly out of an American one.

Well even the Canadian government isn’t immune to a cyber attack or two.  Ottawa says hackers apparently from China, tried to infiltrate computers at the federal Treasury Board and possibly the Finance department.  So far though, it looks like no data was compromised.

And David Letterman says he was duped.  On last night’s “Late Show,” the host explained that he got a call from someone who claimed to represent Lindsay Lohan and offered up the actress for a Top Ten List.  Letterman says he jumped at the chance and thought it would be huge.  But Lohan denies making any such comment or call….and as a result there was no Lindsay Top Ten afterall.

Well if ya travel a lot to the U.S., you’re probably not gonna like this news !  President Barack Obama is thinking about charging a fee for every Canadian who choses to enter the States by air or sea.  The proposed 5.50 charge is in the 2012 draft budget he submitted to Congress on Monday. 

You probably won’t recognize the name….but you’ll know the work.  Veteran character actor Len Lesser has died in California at the age of 88.  Lesser is best known for his role as Uncle Leo on the sitcom “Seinfeld.”  But he had a long list of t.v. credits which included, “E.R.,” “Get Smart,” “The Munsters,” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” 

And no one has the winning ticket for the 35 million dollar prize in last night’s lotto 6/49 draw.  So that means, the jackpot for this weekend’s draw will be approximately, 41 million.

The city’s paramedics are going buggy over bedbugs.  Paramedics say they want locations that have been treated for the critters publicly disclosed in the same way that the city publicizes restaurant health violations.  The province and the city says the bedbug problem is a growing health risk.  And, as we told you yesterday, health officials are now trying to put together a province wide response plan to deal with the invasion.

Looks like teachers and Winnipeg school division no. 1, may heading to arbitration.  Educators in the city’s largest school division want a 9 per cent wage hike over 2 years, but so far, the division has countered with a wage freeze.

No new talks are scheduled, so baggage handlers remain off the job this morning at 3 major airports in Toronto and Montreal.  About 400 handlers launched a strike last night at Toronto’s Pearson and at Montreal’s Trudeau and Mirabel airports.  So far, managers say things are moving along just fine as they are now filling in for the handlers.

We should get the word sometime this morning.  The Prime Minister’s Office is expected to announce today that Prince William and Kate Middleton will make Canada their first official stop as husband and wife.  It’s believed the royal couple will visit various cities from coast to coast, beginning in late June until early July.  William and Kate are set to get married on April 29^th in London.

A Scottish deerhound named, “Hickory,” has been named best in show at this year’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York.  The 5 year old dog pulled off a huge surprise last night, becoming the first of her breed to capture the purple and gold ribbon and shinny silver bowl.

And here’s a case that shows, you should always have that emergency kit in the car.  84 year old Henry Morello says he’ll never drive again without water in the car.  The Arizona man took a wrong turn and wound up getting lost in a desert north of Phoenix, and he wasn’t rescued for 5 long days.  Morello says he actually ended up drinking windshield wiper fluid, and used the car mats to stay warm.

A former clerk charged with stealing money from Misericordia hospital, says she wasn’t he only one who had access to the cash….others did too.  Michelle Cadger is accused of stealing 1.5 million dollars over a 10 year period from the bank machine.  The province is now suing the 46 year old woman to try and recoup its losses and a judge has frozen her bank accounts. 

And Lilo is heading to Letterman.  CBS says Lindsay Lohan will present the Top Ten list on tomorrow’s “Late Show with David Letterman.”  Lohan’s problems have regularly put her in the news and on late night monologue’s like Dave’s, most recently thanks to felony charges, for the alleged theft of a necklace from a jewelry store.

The province’s top flood planners say the mild conditions so far this month, combined with little precipitation, have slightly reduced the flooding outlook.  Officials still want to see current conditions continue, but says there’s still a one in ten chance that there could be levels similar to 1997.  A new updated flood forecast is scheduled for later this month, which should give residents a better idea of what they may be facing.

2 city police officers are on trial accused of perjury.  The case dates back to a drug bust in 2005 at the Fairmont Hotel.  It’s alleged that constables Peter O’Kane and Jess Zebrun searched a room without a warrant and later returned to seize a large quantity of cocaine.  The 2 officers testified in court that a mysterious informant tipped them off to the drug haul, but the case fell apart and they were both charged with lying under oath.

Manitoba is putting together a plan to kill bedbugs and try and stop their spread.  Premier Selinger says the plan includes marshalling each municipality in the fight and co-ordinating techniques to exterminate them.  Selinger says more details of the strategy will be released in the coming weeks.

The leader of Italy is off to court.  An Italian judge has order Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17 year old girl and then tried to cover it up.  The indictment was handed down this morning.  The trial is now set to begin at the beginning of April.

The former host of the “Price is Right,” is pushing to get Toronto Zoo elephants to come on down….to sunny California.  Bob Barker wants 3 elephants at the zoo to be transferred to a sanctuary where they’d be warmer and have lots of company.  The animal rights activist says the elephants were never meant for cold Canadian weather. 

Each of the 19 Bell Canada workers in Toronto may be 1.6 million dollars richer now, but they say it’s not good enough.  They’re sure an ongoing investigation by Ontario lottery officials will confirm they are the only winners of the 50 million dollar jackpot from a New Year’s Lotto Max draw.  So far, lotto officials have issued 32 million dollars in cheques to the initial 19 who came forward to claim the prize.  But it’s holding back the remaining 18 million until the courts figure out if any of the 11 other alleged claimants are entitled to a share.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors are set to today to discuss plans for t.v. coverage of next month’s trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter.  Dr. Conrad Murray has plead not guilty in the 2009 death of the music superstar.  But an autopsy did show Jackson died of an overdose of an anesthetic combined with other sedatives.

Her recovery has been amazing….and to that end, NASA’s chief says he hopes Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords will be able to attend her husband’s shuttle launch in 2 months time.  Astronaut Mark Kelly says he expects his wife will be well enough by then to be at Cape Canaveral.  Doctors however say it’s still a little too early to tell.

Sears has been advised that there’s a potential safety matter concerning some child car seats.  Sears says the matter pertains to Cosco, Safety 1^st, Eddie Bauer and Maxi-Cosi branded child restraints made between May 2008 and April 2009.  There’s apparently a potential for the harness adjustment strap to loosen during use, meaning a child may not be fully protected in a motor vehicle collision.

City police say a man was killed by a CN freight train this weekend.  It happened early yesterday around 4 a.m., on Taylor Avenue.  So far the man’s name has not been released, and police continue to investigate.

A pilot and passenger of a small plane weren’t hurt after engine trouble forced them to make an emergency landing on a Manitoba marsh.  Police say the privately owned plane was on a day trip from Winnipeg to Whiteshell Provincial Park, when it experienced problems on the way home.  The pilot had to make an emergency landing in the marsh, and while the plane was equipped with skis, police say it quickly got bogged down.  Transportation Safety Board officials are now investigating.

An NDP member of the legislature says she’s calling it a day.  Marilyn Brick, who represents St. Norbert, says she won’t be seeking re-election in this October’s provincial vote.  She’s apparently decided to pursue other interests.  Brick has represented the riding since 2003.

The feds say since last year, this country has welcomed the highest number of immigrants in over 50 years….more than 280 thousand in fact.  Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the new Canadians will help the country’s economic recovery.  But a spokesperson for the Canadian Council of Refugees says these kinds of numbers are actually hurting other kinds of migrants, like refugees and family members having to wait a long time to be reunited with their families.

Well it turns out that laughter is the way to get over “Bieber fever.”  Adam Sandler and Jenn Aniston’s new flick, “Get Over It,” took in 31 million dollars this weekend taking top spot at the box office.  It just barely edged out the “Never Say Never,” docu-movie about Justin Bieber.  The animated love story, “Gnomeo and Juliet” opened up in third.

A spokesperson for Elizabeth Taylor says the Oscar winning actress is likely to spend another few days in Los Angeles hospital, while being treated for congestive heart failure.  The 78 year old Taylor is resting comfortably apparently, and a number of family and friends have come to visit.

New report this morning says those energy drinks…..well they’re under studied, overused and can be dangerous for children and teens.  Doctors say those dangers include heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death.  The bad effects are caused mostly by too much caffeine or similar ingredients. 

A new study this morning shoots down the value of opinion polls.  It comes 75 years after the first “scientific” political surveys accurately predicted the outcome of the 1936 U.S. Presidential election.  Some pollsters say politicians and pundits have become slaves to public opinion….and have even made policy decisions based on poll results. 

She’s affectionately known as Hurricane Hazel.  This country’s longest serving mayor, Hazel McCallion is sure to get some red roses on Valentine’s Day today, as she’s celebrating her 90^th birthday.  The people of Mississauga, Ontario have had a love affair with Hazel since 1978 and she won her 12^th term as Mayor last fall.  By the way, Hazel still keeps a pair of skates and a hockey stick in the trunk of her car, just in case she decides to join a pick up game.

And at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles last night……Canada’s own, Neil Young finally took home a statue for his music.  But, Justin Bieber was shut out in the best new artist category.  And  Montreal rockers, Arcade Fire pulled off the shocker of the night…taking home album of the year honor’s.