http://www.102clearfm.com

So, remember the Aerosmith/ZZ Top concert that wasn’t last summer?  Well the Blue Bombers sure do, and they’ve decided to sue the concert promoter over the no show.  The football club says it’s out of pocket some 97 thousand dollars it spent on preparations for the show.  The club is also suing for general damages, because it lost out on things like parking fees, concession sales and ticketing commissions.

City police are bracing for an outbreak of violence between a couple of bike gangs in town.  Apparently, a member of the Rock Machine Bike Club, who used to belong to a Hells Angels puppet club, was lured to a location where he was beaten beyond recognition.  Since that attack, police have been preparing to deal with some sort of retaliation. 

Another week, another recall by Toyota to tell ya about.  This morning the company’s president announced the world’s number one automaker is recalling about 437 thousand Prius and other Hybrid cars worldwide.  It’s to fix brake problems.  The recall is the latest in a string of embarrassing safety problems at Toyota, which is currently working on the recall of 7 million vehicles for faulty gas pedals and floor mats.

Everyone from an astronaut to the governor of California will be carrying the Olympic torch on the relay’s last days around Vancouver.  Astronaut Julie Payette will run tomorrow, and singers Jann Arden and Michael Buble on Thursday.  Friday’s runners will include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Fox’s father Rolly, and Wayne Gretzky’s father Walter.

The Canadian Forces has been rocked to its core with the news that the commanding officer of the country’s largest air force base has been charged with murder and sex assault.  46 year old Colonel, Russell Williams, the commander of CFB Trenton, Ontario, is charged with first degree murder in the deaths of 2 area women.  He’s also charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement in attacks on 2 other women during home invasions last fall.  Canada’s top soldier, General Walter Natynczyk says news of Williams arrest, made it a tough day for anyone in uniform.

It’s taken about 8 months, but, Michael Jackson’s former doctor has now been arrested and charged.  Yesterday, Dr. Conrad Murray was hit with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the pop singer’s death.  If convicted, he could face up to 4 years behind bars.  Dr. Murray by the way, did plead not guilty to the charge yesterday, and is currently free on 75 thousand dollars bail.

Kick em while they’re down.  That seems to be old man winter’s philosophy as far as the U.S. capital is concerned.  Washington, D.C. is bracing for more snow and government workers are being told to stay home for a 2^nd day in a row.  The region is still digging out from 70 centimeters of snow that hit on the weekend, when another storm is forecast to bring another 20 to 30 centimeters today and tomorrow.

Police have charged a 31 year old woman with assaulting a man dubbed, Winnipeg’s “homeless hero.”  45 year old Faron Hall is in stable condition in hospital, recovering from his injuries.  Hall is the former homeless man who last year rescued 2 people from drowning in separate incidents on the Red River near the Esplanade Riel Bridge.  This weekend, Hall was seriously beaten in the apartment where he was living after a verbal dispute turned violent.

Bad weather on the weekend, forced a plane to crash land on Lake Winnipeg.  RCMP say the pilot and a male passenger, both from Manigotagan, ended up on the east side of the lake on Saturday afternoon.  The pilot ended up walking about 7 kilometers to get help, while he left his injured passenger inside the plane.  Both the pilot and the passenger were rescued and taken to hospital, where they remain in stable condition.

It was a perfect lift off early this morning for the space shuttle Endeavor.  The shuttle and its crew of 6 blasted off from Florida around 3 a.m. Winnipeg time this morning.  This is one of the last shuttle flight’s scheduled…in fact, only 4 more flights are left. 

Fire has gutted the Ottawa t.v. station that was first to host a young Alanis Morissette, employed future ABC news anchor, Peter Jennings, and produced the “Galloping Gourmet” and “The Amazing Kreskin.”  Yesterday’s blaze at CJOH destroyed the station’s entire newsroom.  CTV says damage is pegged at 2.5 million.  No word yet on the cause of the blaze.

Could be a big day in the Michael Jackson case.  An L.A. district attorney spokesperson says a charge will be filed today in the death last June of Jackson.  After months of investigations and a week of trying to surrender, lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray say they expect he’ll be charged today with a single count of involuntary manslaughter.

Olympic athletes start training today on Cyprus Mountain, just north of Vancouver, while snow continues to be flown and trucked in to dump on the mountain.  Organizers have had to delay training for snowboarders competing in the halfpipe and giant slalom in order to protect the snow on those courses.  But the I.O.C. says it remains confident the ski venue will be ready for this weekend’s start of the 2010 games.

Kind of the opposite problem in Washington D.C. today….where snow has paralyzed the American capital.  U.S. federal agencies will be closed today as the region digs out from a weekend blizzard that dumped over 70 centimeters of snow.  The storm grounded planes, trains and automobiles, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.  As well, power was out to much of the region for over 24 hours.

Canadians continue to donate millions to Haitian relief.  Various aid organizations are scrambling to ensure as much money as possible gets to the devastated country.  Ottawa’s window to match donations closes this Friday.

Manitoba’s former premier says it’s gonna be hard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level required by the Copenhagen deal on climate change.  Gary Doer, who is now an envoy to the U.S., said yesterday this would be a challenge and nobody should sugar coat it.  But Doer also said he still has high hopes that both the U.S. and Canada can reduce emissions by 17 per cent in the next decade.

Premier Greg Selinger says he has no plans to slash any public service jobs, or impose unpaid Fridays on workers to cut the province’s hugh deficit.  He says moderation will be help his NDP government tame, what will be the 2^nd highest red ink stain on the province’s bottom line. 

Another day, another day of damage control for Toyota.  The Japanese automaker says there are design problems with the brakes in its latest model Prius.  The brake issue is just adding to the Toyota’s woes, as it’s still reeling from the gas pedal recalls in 8 other models.

Guaranteed this one’s gonna cause a fight.  The Harper government wants to cancel the week long breaks in March and April, which is normally meant for MP’s to spend time with their families.  They’ve been under fire for proroguing Parliament until March 3^rd.  But now, they’re saying there’s too much work to do, so the March and April breaks should be tossed.  The move however still needs the blessing of all of the other parties.

Remember that famous kids song, “Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree?”  An Australian court thinks it sounds like the flute melody in Men at Work’s smash 80’s hit, “Down Under.”  So, the judge has ruled the band did indeed copy the song, which was written some 70 years ago…and they must now pay up the publishing company who owns the original.

So, we first told you about this story yesterday.  Should cat owners be allowed to pierce the ears of their kitten, just because some parents pierce the ears of their young children?  Defence attorney’s for a Pennsylvania woman suggested they should…..that it would be wrong to hold cat owners to a higher standard.  But, Holly Crawford was convicted yesterday anyway of animal cruelty for piercing the necks and ears of kittens and marketing them as gothic cats over the internet.

So, getting a little fed up with all the recent violence against Manitoba cabbies, the taxi cab industry is now looking at what they can do to stop these recent attacks.  There’ve been a total of 6 incidents alone in the last few weeks, where drivers were either assaulted, robbed or had their cabs stolen.  The taxicab board is now looking at security measures, like increasing the size of those driver shields.

So, it’s not just the balmy weather outside that’s worrying Olympic officials….there’s a lot of hand wringing going on about the indoors too.  Technicians are hoping their state of the art systems can cope with Vancouver’s high humidity levels, especially when venues like the Richmond Oval are full of spectators.  One curling manager says it’s gonna be a real test to keep and maintain ideal ice conditions during the games.

More troubles for Toyota….this time it’s the Prius that’s the problem.  There’ve been more than 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the gas-electric hybrid.  The Prius is not part of the recall of other Toyota vehicles that have sticky gas pedal problems.

They don’t forget.  A 74 year old Ontario woman is sitting in a U.S. jail….because of a drug warrant issued 30 years ago.  Homenella Cole of Hamilton was trying to cross the border into New York state yesterday when, U.S. officials found she had an outstanding warrant dating back to 1980.  New York State police are now trying to make sure she faces the long outstanding charge of pot possession with the intent to sell.

Do they stay, or do they go?  Defence experts say Ottawa needs to answer than question on whether Canadian troops should stay and help in rebuilding Haiti.  Right now there are about a thousand troops on hand helping out…but, they’re all scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan later this year.  But, some defence experts say the Canucks should stay, since social unrest and gang violence will likely increase…and there services will be needed.

The trial of a Pennsylvania dog groomer charged with animal cruelty has started.  35 year old Holly Crawford is charged for giving kittens ear and neck piercings and marketing them online as so called, “gothic cats.”  Prosecutors say she inflicted pain on the cats to make money. 

So, oddsmakers have come out with a few Oscar predictions already.  Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock are the early faves to win an Academy Award in the top acting categories.  “Avatar” is considered the fave among the 10 nominees for best picture.  The awards by the way will get handed out March 7^th.

Cindy Klassen may be going for gold in Vancouver, but she won’t be helping MTS pitch any new cellphones, t.v. or internet packages while she’s at the games.  MTS has been told to “blank out” all ads related to the speedskater for the duration of the Olympics, because they’re not an official game sponsor.  A company spokesperson says there won’t be any new ads with Klassen during the games…but he says there are no plans to reduce or eliminate any current ads either.

A fixture of the downtown restaurant scene, is closing its doors.  The Pizza Hut on the corner of Donald and York is now gone.  A spokesperson says the closure was not a sign of troubles times for the company…rather a decision to not renew the lease on the building.  Apparently, Pizza Hut will soon be opening other new location’s around town.

Nurses at St. Boniface hospital have voted to walk off the job.  The nurses voted 79 per cent in favor of a strike yesterday.  A union rep says seniority and overtime are two of the key issues.  So far, no strike deadline has been set.

Some scary times on board a school bus yesterday for 4 city kindergarten kids.  They were trapped on their bus for quite some time after power lines landed on its roof.  The lines came down after another vehicle knocked down two hydro poles.  Fortunately, crews were able to determine that the lines weren’t live hydro wires, and the kids were able to leave the bus safely.

More than 75 of music’s biggest stars gathered in Hollywood yesterday to re-record the 1985 charity anthem, “We are the World.”  The recording was actually done in the very same studio the original was cut 25 years ago.  This time, stars included Canada’s own Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Kanye West and the Jonas Brothers.  The proceeds from the sale of the single will benefit earthquake recovery in Haiti.

Toyota is sending dealers a small metal shim, something it says will prevent problems with the accelerator mechanism.  The carmaker says the fix should only take about half an hour, and can begin at dealerships late this week.  The company also insists that the solution has been through rigorous testing and will solve the problem for the life of the car. 

It’s Groundhog Day !  Prognosticating rodents…or, humans pretending to be them….will emerge from their burrows this morning to tell Canadians when winter might wrap up.  If the groundhog sees its shadow, folklore has it that winter will stick around for another 6 weeks.  If no shadow can be seen, the spring is just around the corner. 

Automatic garbage collection begins today in parts of the city.  The new system features those rolling bins, which are collected automatically by trucks, rather than the garbage men having to pick up bags and toss them.  About 42 thousand households will make the switch to the new automated service in the next 3 weeks.  The new bins will eventually get rolled out city wide.

A new report from the Canadian HIV-AIDS Legal Network calls for the establishment of needle and syringe distribution programs in this country’s jails.  It warns that the high rate of blood borne infections in prisons is a public health issue that affects all of society.

Nurses at St. Boniface General Hospital will take a strike vote today.  Contract talks with the province stalled last week.  Seniority, and overtime concerns are the main issues.  A strike deadline is expected to be set following the vote.

Not often you hear one like this.  A robber hit the Subway store in St. Boniface on the weekend.  Now, not only did he want cash, but, he also asked for cookies…..macadamia nut by the way.  Turns out though, he didn’t get to enjoy them, as police nabbed him about 5 minutes later.   A 23 year old man is now facing numerous charges.

Details on Toyota’s gas pedal fix will be revealed this morning, as the Japanese auto giant tries to reassure concerned owners.  More than 2.5 million vehicles sold in this country and the U.S., and several more million world wide, are being recalled because they could have the sticky accelerator problem. 

Cheaters will have a tougher time getting away with it, at this month’s Olympics in Vancouver.  Organizers will run 2 thousand anti doping tests during the Games….nearly double the number run in 2006.  Everything from high tech blood enhancers to garden variety cold medicines will be looked for. 

Don’t know if you’ve heard about this or not….but, there’s a 16 year old girl who is trying to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.  Abby Sunderland left Marina Del Ray on January 23^rd…..but has run into some trouble with her solar panels and wind generators….so she says she’ll have to make port in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico….and that would end her goal of making no land stops during the voyage.

U.N. officials are revamping the way they distribute food in Haiti.  The World Food Program and its partners are now handing out coupons to mainly women, the elderly and the disabled, to be redeemed for bags of rice.  Officials targeted women because they’re the primary caregivers in most households and are less likely to be aggressive in aid lines.

Getting to space is about to be outsourced.  The Obama administration’s new budget will propose billions of dollars to encourage private companies to build, launch and operate spacecraft for NASA and others.  The government would buy its astronauts a ride into space, just like hopping into a taxi of sorts.

It looks like a happy ending for Charles Gon-sah-lin, the man who almost died sneaking across the Canadian border to see his Internet girlfriend.  It’s been 5 years since he tried to walk from North Dakota into Manitoba, and hop a bus to Quebec to meet Jennifer Couture.  Gon-sah-lin got lost however.  He spent 100 hours in -20 degree weather before being arrested and losing several fingers and toes to frostbite.  But, Gon-sah-lin persisted, and says he and Jennifer are now talking marriage.  The couple still live on opposite sides of the border, but meet regularly in the States, because Gon-sah-lin is barred from Canada due to a 1984 robbery conviction.

School boards shouldn’t have to raise their taxes this year.  That message from the provincial government, who says, it’ll increase its portion of funding by nearly 3 per cent.  The province funds about 63 per cent of school operating costs. 

Wanting to avoid a repeat of last spring’s ice jam, the province has bought more ice breaking equipment.  2 new Bobcat machines, equipped with a circular saw on the front, have been purchased at a cost of 240 grand each.  The province says the strategy to limit the ice jam threat is already in full swing, as radar and satellite technology is being used to measure the thickness of the ice on the Red River.

We first told you about this story yesterday.  Police have now charged a 16 year old boy with attempted murder, following a shooting over a dispute about dirty shoes….not an X-Box game, as was reported yesterday.  The 27 year old victim says he was shot after he asked his younger brother to remove his dirty shoes while inside their grandmothers home.  The older brother who was shot by the way, was treated in hospital and is now doing okay.

There’s mixed news from Toyota on the problem that triggered a massive recall earlier this week.  The world’s biggest automaker says it has started shipping parts to repair the faulty gas pedals.  However, Toyota won’t predict when the affected customers would get their vehicles fixed.  In this country alone, 270 thousand vehicles are affected, while the recall in the U.S. and Europe totals in the millions.

The name of the Canadian athlete who’ll carry the flag at the opening ceremonies in Vancouver will be announced today.  Among the 200 candidates is speedskater, Clara Hughes as well as Scott Niedermayer—captain of the men’s hockey team.  The games by the way begin in exactly 2 weeks.

A privacy expert says people’s personal information could be floating around the globe from one computer server to another….and in far away places.  David Loukidelis says the information is never at rest.  He says a generation ago, the information was being stored in filing cabinets, but now it’s often outsourced to data collection and storage firms in other countries.

Doctors and aid workers say Haiti’s devastated hospitals are being severely taxed as they treat tens of thousands of people injured by the earthquake 17 days ago now.  They say basic medical supplies are running dangerously low at some hospitals and clinics.  One U.N. official in fact, says there is a grave need for medicine all over Haiti.

Former Winnipegger and WWE star, Chris Jericho, in a bit of trouble with the law.  He and another wrestler, Greg Hurricane Helms, were arrested in Cincinnati early Wednesday morning.  Apparently the two, along with a few others got into some sort of altercation at a gas station around 4 a.m.  The 39 year old Jericho was charged with public drunkenness….but managed to come up with the 120 dollars needed for bail.  He’ll now appear in court next month.

An autopsy has revealed a 47 year old woman rushed to hospital a week in Portage la Prairie, appears to have been choked.  Justina McDougall died several days later in hospital.  Her husband, 54 year old Kenneth McDougall has now been charged with first degree murder. 

Brothers, and an apparent fight over a video game has landed one in hospital and one in police custody.  Police say a 27 year old was critically shot yesterday, after apparently getting into a fight over an X-Box game with a younger brother.  The 16 year old younger brother is now custody…the older brother is at HSC.

It’s ugly news for fans of “Ugly Betty.”  ABC announced yesterday the Emmy and Golden Globe winning series will be cancelled after this season’s final 8 episodes.  A critical and popular success with its 2006 premier, the show has struggled keeping an audience in the last couple of years.  ABC vows the show will end in a fashion that will satisfy its fans.

The same week it announced its halting sales and production of 8 models, due to sticky accelerators, Toyota has now announced another recall of 1.8 million vehicles because of floor mat problems.  There’s apparently a risk of gas pedals becoming stuck in the floor mats.  Owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by mail.

Over in Haiti, food remains scarce for many of the neediest earthquake survivors.  And, what little is available is often the prize in a fight for survival among the hungry and homeless.  But, on the 15^th day after the quake, a miracle occurred when French rescuers yesterday pulled a 17 year old girl from the rubble of a home.  She was severely dehydrated but alive.

A new study says runners might be a little kinder to their feet by throwing away those expensive running shoes.  The study found that running barefoot…as man did back in the stone ages….puts far less stress on the feet.  That’s because barefoot runners tend to land mostly on the front or middle part of the foot, instead of the heel.

New poll out today says, Canada’s swift response to the Haitian earthquake tragedy, hasn’t boosted the Harper government’s popularity any.  The latest survey, done last week, has found both the Conservatives and Liberals are in a dead heat, with 32 per cent supporting the Tories, and 31 per cent supporting the Liberals.  The NDP is sitting well back at just 15 per cent support.

Closing arguments have been heard in the first degree murder trial of a Winnipeg man accused of stabbing a woman 51 times.  Daniel Johnson has admitted to killing 19 year old Jaylene Crane, but his defence team has argued his mind was too clouded by drugs and booze to form the necessary intent to prove murder.  They say he should be convicted of manslaughter.  A jury will begin deciding Johnson’s fate today.

Some big automotive news to tell ya about this morning.  Toyota has announced its suspending sales of 8 of its models, that are currently being recalled in this country and the U.S.  The recall affects about 270 thousand Canadian late model Camry’s, Corolla’s and RAV-4’s.  It’s all because of a sticky gas pedal problem.  One expert says this problem could be huge, if a solution isn’t found quickly.

There was free beef being handed out at Leg yesterday.  A rancher from Langruth, gave away 800 kilos of ground beef, to call attention to what he says is government neglect of the cattle industry.  Kerry Arksey says both the feds and the province have failed to help cattle producers, who’ve been financially reeling since the mad cow crisis in 2003.  The 4^th generation producer says he’s been forced to sell off virtually all of his cattle.

Mayor Sam Katz delivered his state of the City address yesterday.  And, he didn’t pull any punches.  Katz took shots at the provincial government, school divisions and political parties who he says are looking to get more involved in civic politics.  The speech did have some bright notes however.  Katz promised to try and freeze property taxes again this year.  And give tax cuts to business owners.

Prime Minister Harper is in Switzerland today for the Davos World Economic Forum.  He’ll spend the next day and half mingling with other world leaders, business executives and academics.  He’ll give a keynote speech tomorrow, where it’s expected he’ll talk about the world’s role in rebuilding Haiti.

The Winnipeg Police Association says there satisfied with the 10 year sentence given to a 31 eyar old man who opened fire on city cops outside a downtown bar.  Neither officer was injured in the July 2007 incident, but the gunman, Rene Barrios-Lopez, was struck in the abdomen with a police bullet. 

A U of M professor wants to see improvements to the country’s food safety system.  Richard Holley says most cases of food borne illnesses happen sporadically and aren’t monitored at all.  He estimates there are 11 million cases of food poisoning annually in Canada.  Holley says there should be a better system for recording and analyzing cases of food borne illnesses.

That sweet smell in the air during next month’s Olympic Games in Vancouver might not necessarily be success.  It could be marijuana.  Longtime pot activist Marc Emery expects tourists coming to the Games to try their hand with B.C.’s best known export.  While Vancouver police say they expect to exercise their usual relaxed discretion around pot smoking, they’ll also make sure people realize that it’s still against the law.

Another earthquake survivor has been pulled from the rubble in Port au Prince.  A 35 year old man is being treated for a broken leg and severe dehydration.  The U.S. military says the man was trapped for 12 days by an aftershock, rather than the initial quake which happened 2 weeks ago yesterday.

The world’s longest surviving octuplets are celebrating their 1^st birthday at their California home.  The 8 babies were born a year ago yesterday.  Mother, Nadya Suleman apparently marked the day with a quiet celebration with immediate family and friends.

Elizabeth Buhler’s secret to a long life is simple….exercise and good solid food.  The Manitoba woman, who is the oldest Canadian now, is just days away from celebrating her 111^th birthday.  Buhler plans a quiet party on Monday, Feb. 8^th, the actual day of her birthday.

Well the blizzard that blew through the province yesterday has made some people happy.  People with the Festival du Voyageur say they were worried about not having enough snow for their famous sculptures.  Now, there’s no problems.  The storm yesterday dumped up to 30 cm of snow on some parts of the province….Winnipeg got a total of 20 cm.

Mounties have arrested 2 people wanted by U.S. authorities for their alleged role in an international crime syndicate.  Police picked up the two, along with 7 relatives on a Manitoba highway as they tried to sneak into the country.  All are residents of Guatemala with no legal status in North America. 

Haiti’s president is asking for donations of hundreds of thousands of tents to help shelter earthquake survivors.  An estimated one million people have been left homeless by the January 12^th earthquake. 

Actor John Travolta has arrived in Haiti, on his own jet.  Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, carried about 4 thousand kilograms of ready to eat military rations and medical supplies for Haiti’s earthquake victims on their Boeing 7-0-7.  The Travolta’s also brought with them doctors and Scientology ministers.

New report this morning says Vancouver was the world’s least affordable housing market last year.  A group looked at nearly 300 metropolitan housing markets in this country, the U.S., Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.  Toronto by the way, was branded severely unaffordable, while Montreal and Calgary were classified as seriously unaffordable.

The Liberals and the NDP are joining forces to make sure the Prime Minister doesn’t shut down Parliament again.  Yesterday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced his party’s proposal for changing the parliamentary rules on proroguing.  Harper recently shut down Parliament until March 3^rd, a move the opposition says was made so he could avoid getting grilled in the House on various issues.

A new survey this morning suggests Canadians believe violent hits to the head are premeditated and avoidable in hockey.  The poll found that sentiment is strongest in Quebec with 80 per cent of people their agreeing.  Just a few days before the survey was conducted a Quebec junior hockey player elbowed an opposing player in the head, sending him into convulsions on the ice. 

A new study this morning suggests its never to late to start pumping iron.  University of B.C. researchers studied 155 elderly women, and they found that those assigned to a year of once or twice weekly weight training showed a sharp improvement in cognitive ability.  The study also found lifting weights improved their strength and mobility.

Thanks to yesterday’s storm, there’s now some major plowing underway.  The city will continue to clear snow on major streets as well as backlanes and sidewalks for the rest of the week.  And, until further notice, there’s a major snowfall parking ban in place, city wide.  That ban will stay in place until plowing is completed.