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Weekend Newsstand: January 31, 2015
As of January 24, 56 people have died of the flu in Toronto alone. If you have a weak immune system, stay away from... people. All of them. Just to be safe. In the news: someone has successfully scaled a frozen portion of Niagara Falls, community and home health-care workers are on strike, and 22 more GO stations will have Wi-Fi on Monday.
In a move defying gravity, fear, and common sense, Alberta’s Will Gadd climbed a frozen portion of the Niagara Falls this week. The northernmost area of the Horseshoe Falls took Gadd about an hour to climb. Gadd, 47, has also climbed the Helmcken Falls in B.C., another ice climb. The B.C. climb was 141 metres and Gadd gave it a difficulty rating of WI10, “three grades higher than the world’s previous hardest ice climb.”
Many of Ontario’s home and community health-care workers are on strike as of Friday, Jan. 30. Community Care Access Centre workers voted to strike on Thursday as wage-related talks broke down with the Ontario Nurses’ Association. The group includes rapid-response registered nurses, registered practical nurses, and direct-care nurse practitioners, among others. One area represented by CCAC, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant, voted in favour of the offer. Champlain, Central West, Mississauga Halton, and Toronto Centre workers are not represented by the ONA. Non-health-care members of CCAC, including CEO Jo-anne Marr, have stepped in to help the few workers who cross the picket line to provide a baseline of services.
Starting Feb. 2, 22 more GO train stations will have free Wi-Fi access. Metrolinx began a pilot project in 2013, outfitting 14 stations with free Wi-Fi. The 31 remaining stations are set to have Wi-Fi by the end of this year.