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Dick Nunis, who helped expand Disney’s theme park ambitions around the globe, dies at age 91

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Dick Nunis, who helped expand The Walt Disney Company’s in-person entertainment ambitions from a single theme park in California to locations around the world during a four-decade career with the entertainment giant, has died. He was 91.Disney said in a statement Wednesday that Nunis died in Orlando, Florida, surrounded by family. It gave no cause of death.Nunis began his career at Disney in 1955, training future employees of the soon-to-open Disneyland in Anaheim, California, alongside Walt Disney, who was the father-in-law of Nunis’ college friend, Ron Miller, an eventual company CEO. By the time Nunis retired in 1999 after 44 years at the company, he was chair of Walt Disney Attractions, overseeing a theme park empire that spanned around the world, from Florida to France to Japan.“What started as a summer job training future Disneyland employees would ultimately become a storied 44-year career at Disney,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in the stat...

Costa Rican president expresses full support for Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Wednesday welcomed Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and offered his country’s full support as the elected leader continues to face legal challenges from prosecutors who attempt to derail his inauguration.During a welcoming ceremony in the capital, San Jose, Arévalo personally invited Chaves to his swearing in, scheduled for Jan. 14.Guatemalan prosecutors continue to pursue criminal cases against Arévalo’s Seed Movement party and, last month, said they would ask a court to strip Arévalo of his immunity so that he can be investigated for allegedly sending messages of support on social media to protesters who took control of a public university last year and for election irregularities.International observers and Arévalo himself have said his election victory was clean and that prosecutors’ investigations are only an attempt to derail his inauguration.Arévalo on Tuesday publicly protested prosec...

Canadian man with criminal record killed at a gym in Mexican resort of Cancun

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Canadian man with a criminal record in his home country has been killed in a shooting at a mall in the Caribbean coast resort of Cancun, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.Prosecutors in the coastal state of Quintana Roo did not give the man’s name. They said the shooting occurred at a gym inside the mall. They said he had been convicted in Canada of gang-related offenses, including possession of illicit funds.Canada’s Global Affairs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.It would not be the first time Canadians killed in the area were later found to have criminal backgrounds.In January 2022, two Canadians — one of them sought by Interpol — were killed at a nearby resort in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.The Associated Press

Cineplex sees $35 million in box office revenues for month of November

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

TORONTO — Cineplex Inc. says November brought box office revenues of $35 million as Canadians came out to watch the likes of The Marvels and the latest Hunger Games movie.The Toronto-based company says the results compared with box office revenues of $52 million during the same month in 2019, and were slightly lower than October’s numbers.Cineplex says lower business volumes are expected in the near term due to the impacts of the Hollywood strikes.The company also announced it has entered into a credit facility extension with its lenders. It says strong results in the second and third quarters have allowed it to pay down approximately $55 million under its credit facilities.  Cineplex says that net proceeds from the recently announced sale of Player One Amusement Group, expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, will help it pay down further debt. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)The Canadian Press

Manitoba First Nations appear a step closer to gaining a casino in Winnipeg

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government indicated it is now open to allowing a First Nations casino in the province’s capital — something Indigenous leaders have long fought for.Premier Wab Kinew says there is no specific proposal on the table right now, but he is open to discussions if an offer comes forward.He says it could involve an urban Indigenous economic zone in Winnipeg or elsewhere.The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs welcomed the news, saying First Nations have been shut out of the city while two government-run casinos and a smaller downtown gaming centre went ahead.Previous governments had said there was no room for a new casino in Winnipeg, and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs launched a lawsuit.Earlier this week, the NDP government issued a mandate letter to its Crown corporation on gambling, which announced an end to a pause on expansion of the gambling facilities.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023The Canadian Press

Somalia’s president says his son didn’t flee fatal accident in Turkey and should return to court

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Somalia’s president says his son didn’t flee Turkey after he was involved in a fatal highway crash in Istanbul, and adds that he has advised his son to go back and present himself to court, which has issued an arrest warrant.President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in an interview with The Associated Press that his 40-year-old son, who is a doctor, stayed at the scene of the crash and remained in Istanbul for several days afterward.“It was an accident. He did not run away, and he hired a lawyer for this purpose,” the president said. “And there was no arrest warrant. … So, he has a business and he came out of the country.”Yunus Emre Gocer, a 38-year-old motorcycle courier, died in a hospital Dec. 6, six days after he was hit by a car driven by the president’s son, Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on a busy highway in Istanbul.Turkish authorities ordered president’s son arrested and barred him from traveling abroad following the motorcyclist’s death, but r...

Wednesday night forecast: Temps in upper 30s, mostly clear skies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

CHICAGO — Mostly clear skies tonight. Look for meteors! Winds: SW 5-10. Low: 38. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Thursday Forecast: Mild, mainly sunny. Winds: SW 15-20. High: 49.Temperatures are expected to remain warmer than normal through Friday, with dry conditions continuing. Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

City Council rejects ruling on police discipline, approves contract extension

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

CHICAGO — Police pay and discipline involving the Chicago Police Department were among several topics discussed by the City Council on Wednesday.The most significant item for council members was the FOP contract. Pay was the easy part. By a 42 to 7 vote, members signed off on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s deal to double pay raises for rank-and-file officers.The deal includes a 5% pay raise in 2024 and 2025, up from 2.5% and 2% previously collectively bargained. Also included are new stipends of $1,000 annually for officers with emergency medical, crisis intervention, or bike training certificates.There's also a $2,500 retention bonus for every union officer. Discipline was another matter. Should officers accused of serious wrongdoing – offenses requiring a one-year suspension or termination – be allowed to hold proceedings behind closed doors? An arbitrator said yes."I don’t know who I’m calling when something happens – am I calling the boys on the block or the police?" asked Ald....

Chicago teen on a mission to help others experience fresh air, nature

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago teen is on a mission to get kids to turn to trees over tablets.Meet Andre McKinnie, whose own experiences with fresh air, nature and open spaces inspired him to found the Outdoor Adventure Club at Chicago's Intrinsic High School.There are many statistics related to the idea of "nature gaps," but perhaps the most alarming is that roughly 28 million children in the U.S. don't have any natural space or park within 10 minutes of their home.That was certainly the case for McKinnie, who was already eight years old the first time he went from hard pavement to a soft dirt trail. A walk at the Indiana Dunes National Park Learning Center on the shores of Lake Michigan in Southwest Indiana changed his own path going forward.Andre McKinnie"It was very different from every experience I've ever head," McKinnie recalled. "I'd never been fully immersed in nature."Being from the city, it's like being somewhere different, as if time slows down and there's just a different feeling ...

Nearly half of teens say they are online ‘almost constantly’: Poll 

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:28:12 GMT

(The Hill) -- Close to half of U.S. teens said they are using the internet “almost constantly,” according to a Pew Research Center poll released Monday.  Forty-six percent of teens said they are online almost constantly, on par with what Pew researchers found last year but nearly double the 24 percent who said they were online almost constantly in polls conducted between 2014 and 2015.The increase comes as experts and lawmakers have warned about the impact of social media on youth mental health. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory in May that argued social media use may be harmful to the mental health of young people, and Congress has been considering bipartisan proposals aimed at curbing social media harms for teens.   Which apps do teens spend the most time using? Black and Hispanic teens were more likely than white teens to say they are online almost constantly, according to Pew. The poll found that 55 percent of Hispanic teens and 54 percent of Black teens s...