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Lincoln Alexander Was A Model For Young People

Lincoln Alexander was the lieutenant-governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991.

He was the first black person to hold that post in the country’s history. He was also Canada’s first black Member of Parliament.

Lincoln Alexander died on Oct. 19, at the age of 90. He was given a state funeral, which is a high honour.

Alexander died in Hamilton, Ont., where he had lived for many years.

Throughout his career, Alexander supported youth leadership and he fought racism.

Alexander, born in 1922, was the child of a railway porter and a maid who came separately to Canada from the Caribbean to find a better life.

Their son, Lincoln, became one of Canada’s most inspiring leaders.

His firsts were many. He was the first black person elected to Canada’s House of Commons and the first black person to be named a lieutenant-governor.

He was the first black partner in a Canadian law firm and first black Minister in the Federal Government.

News Sports

A Giant Panda Makes His Mark On Baseball

He’s a giant among Giants, and now his name will forever be in baseball’s record books.

Wednesday night was the first game in this year’s World Series. The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Since 1903, the World Series has been the big, end-of-season battle between the best teams from the American League and National League.

This year the Detroit Tigers of the American League are playing the San Francisco Giants of the National League.

In game one on Wednesday night, history was made. The Giants beat the Tigers and their impressive pitcher, Justin Verlander.

The Giants won 8-3. They took a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven series.

The highlight of the night, however, was made by the Giants’s heavy-hitting third baseman, Pablo Sandoval.

Sandoval was born in Venezuela. He is affectionately known to his teammates as Kung Fu Panda.

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Roman Catholic Church Recognizes First Nations Saint

Last Sunday Kateri Tekakwitha (known as Lily of the Mowhawks) became a saint in the Roman Catholic religion. She is the first North American First Nations saint.

More than 1,000 Canadians attended the “canonization” ceremony, conducted by the Pope Benedict XVI (16th) in the Vatican City in Italy.

Many of the people at the ceremony wore feathered headdresses and beads and sang songs to Tekakwitha.

News Sports

World Renowned Cyclist Lance Armstrong Cheated, Erased From Record Books

Lance Armstrong “has no place in cycling,” the president of the governing body for cycling said this week.

And with those words, the organization took away Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories. They also banned him for life from competing in cycling.

Even though Armstrong came in first in those races, he used banned performance enhancing drugs to help him compete and win races.

So the International Cycling Union (UCI) is erasing him from the sport’s history books.

News

Air Canada Flight Makes A Detour To Locate A Stranded Yacht

Picture this. You’re on a plane, flying from Vancouver, B.C. to Sydney, Australia.

You’re flying over the Pacific Ocean. For the last 12 hours, your flight has been perfectly uneventful.

And then suddenly the captain’s voice comes over the plane’s speakers.

There is a boat in distress, the captain explains. And the plane is going to change course in order to help look for it.

That’s exactly what happened to 270 passengers on board Air Canada flight AC033 last Monday.

The captain was told there was a “vessel in distress” somewhere in the Tasman Sea, which is between Australia and New Zealand.

A yacht with one person aboard had left Sydney, Australia, about two weeks earlier. It had lost its mast, was very low on fuel and had been drifting.

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Rebuilding A Special Community Castle

Last March a fire all but destroyed a very special playground in Toronto.

The city’s High Park children’s castle had been lovingly built by volunteers. Its destruction resulted in an overwhelming community response–including a day-long community celebration.

Celebrity contractor, Mike Holmes, stepped in with his crew to offer to lead the rebuild–an elaborate new playground structure.

Holmes filmed the rebuild for his television show, Holmes Makes It Right. It’s scheduled to air later this month.

The description for that episode reads:

When a beloved castle playground in Toronto’s High Park is damaged by fire, “Mike Holmes is fuming.

“He leads a legion of crewmembers, engineers, architects and firefighters into battle against extreme heat and construction challenges, all while the clock is ticking.

“With help from the community, Mike and his team overcome major setbacks to rebuild a brand new castle that’s fit for any King or Queen, teaching kids that they can rise above any obstacle and build their own kingdoms.”

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EU Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The European Union, a collection of countries in Europe, has been awarded an important prize — the Nobel Prize.

It was given the honour for keeping peace for more than 65 years.

That is a very big accomplishment, especially because the Second World War began just 21 years after the First World War ended in 1918.

But not everyone is happy to see the European Union receive the prestigious prize.

That’s because even though Europe is not at war, it is struggling with a different kind of problem.

Many countries in Europe, including Greece, Spain and Italy, are having trouble paying down their debts.

Their governments borrowed too much money and now they must cut back on the amount of money they spend to pay their workers and for things like roads, hospitals and schools.

News Sports

Broncos Come Back To Shock Chargers

Football quarterback Peyton Manning’s comeback season continues to develop.

Manning missed all of last year with a serious neck injury.

He is back in the National Football League (NFL) and playing quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Manning has accomplished much in his career.

He has been a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl winner.

Last Monday he had a night to remember, adding to his historic NFL career.

News Politics

Dalton McGuinty’s Sudden And Shocking Retirement As Ontario’s Premier

On Monday night, the Premier of Ontario did something surprising. He quit his job.

It was shocking, because most people didn’t see it coming.

Dalton McGuinty has been the Premier for nine years.

He is also the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, a position he has held for 16 years.

At the same time as he resigned, he also “prorogued” the legislature. That means he stopped all business taking place in the Ontario House of Commons.

Most of the work MPPs were working on has been cancelled until a new session is called.

No one knows exactly why McGuinty quit, and so suddenly.

Some people say he intends to run for leader of the federal Liberal party—in other words, take over the national Liberals so he can run for Prime Minister in the future.

Other people say he quit because his provincial government is in the middle of many difficulties including contract negotiations with some unions.

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Ikea Criticized For Airbrushing Women From Its Saudi Arabia Catalogue

Ikea is a large chain of stores around the world that sells furniture and home accessories.

Recently the company came under fire for removing all of the images of women from the pictures in the Saudi Arabia edition of their catalogue.

In the Ikea catalogue, families are shown using and enjoying Ikea’s products. In the Saudi Arabia version of the book, none of the families show women in them.

In other editions of the catalogue, women are featured in the photos.

The images of women were digitally removed from the pictures in the catalogue. This is known as airbrushing or photoshopping.

Ikea said they shouldn’t have removed the images; they regret having done it.

Ikea prints more than 60 versions of its catalogue and sends them all over the world.