Author: Joyce Grant

News Sports

Raptor Mascot Out For The Season

One of the most important members of the Toronto Raptors basketball team is injured and won’t be participating this season.

It’s the “Raptor,” the team’s mascot.

Many people think the Raptor–with his athletic moves, edgy attitude and fun-loving spirit–is one of the best mascots in the NBA. Perhaps even professional sports.

He tore his Achilles tendon during a school visit in Halifax before the basketball season started.

People have an emotional reaction to the Raptor mascot–whoever he/she is.

The coach’s daughter cried when she heard the news of his/her injury.

News

Future King Of England, Baby Prince George, Christened

The tiny heir to Britain’s throne had a big milestone event this week.

Prince George had his christening.

In this case, a christening is a religious Christian ceremony during which a baby is baptized with holy water.

The water used in the ceremony was from the River Jordan. The river has significance to Christians because it is where Jesus was baptized, according to the Bible.

The three-month-old son of Prince William and Kate Middleton is third in line to the British throne. In other words, he could one day be the King of England.

The ceremony took place in St. James’s Palace in England.

There were only 22 people at the christening, but they included some pretty big names.

The Queen was there, as well as the three other people who are next in line to claim her throne.

News Politics

Canada’s Senate Scandal Grows Amid Accusations And Denials

Things have been heating up in the Canadian Senate.

Two days ago, Senator Mike Duffy made a riveting speech. He accused the Prime Minister and some other senators of bullying him into paying $90,000 back to the government when he didn’t think he should have to.

His accusations were part of a dramatic speech.

“The sad truth is, I allowed myself to be intimidated into doing what I knew in my heart was wrong, out of a fear of losing my job,” Duffy said in his speech.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has defended himself against the accusations.

Then yesterday another senator, Pamela Wallin, made a heated speech in the Senate. She accused 14 senators of leaking information about her.

It’s all part of a growing “senate scandal.”

Animals Science

Rare Five-Metre-Long Oarfish Discovered In California

A marine biologist, who was snorkelling off the coast of California, has made a fantastic discovery.

Jasmine Santana found a dead oarfish so long that she needed 15 people to help her drag it out of the ocean.

Santana works for the Catalina Island Marine Institute. She was snorkling when she saw something shimmering.

It was the body of an oarfish. But it wasn’t just any oarfish–this one was more than five metres (18 feet) long.

Oarfish are plankton-eaters. They are rarely seen by humans, because they live deep in the ocean–up to 1,000 metres down.

They are long, like a “sea serpent.” In fact, oarfish may have been the mythical sea serpents of legend.

News

Canada’s Economists Need To Improve Their Writing Skills: Report

It’s important to be able to write clearly. Some of Canada’s economists are finding out just how important.

An “internal report card” gave mediocre grades to economists at the Bank of Canada on their writing skills.

The Bank of Canada is Canada’s central, or main, bank. “Economists” at the Bank of Canada are in charge of making sure Canada’s economy is healthy.

Every once in awhile, organizations like the Bank of Canada take a look at how well they’re doing.

Just like school report cards, they grade themselves in many different areas so they can see where they need to improve.

News Sports

University of Toronto Goalie’s Hockey Dreams Come True

Many young Canadians play hockey. They dream of one day playing in the NHL on a professional team.

Last week, that dream came true for University of Toronto goalie Brett Willows.

One minute he was about to eat dinner with his friends at a restaurant called Noodle Bowl on Spadina Ave. in Toronto. The next, he was suited up as a Toronto Maple Leaf goalie, waiting to go in and play in a professional game.

Willows never got to play in the game, but for a little while, he was a Leaf.

When the Leafs’ goalie, James Reimer, got injured, they put in their other goalie, Jonathan Bernier.

But Bernier would need a backup, and that backup was Brett Willows.

So they called him. Willows ditched the Montreal Canadiens cap he was wearing, threw a $20 bill on the table to pay for the few bites of soup he’d eaten, and ran to gather his goalie gear.

Then he raced to the Air Canada Centre.

Lighter

Canadian Cheese “Best In The World”

Recently, a Canadian cheese was given the title “Supreme Global Champion” at the Global Cheese Awards in England.

Margaret Peters entered her cheese, called Lankaaster, in the competition. Peters owns Glengarry Cheesemaking and Dairy Supply Ltd. in Lancaster, Ont.

It took the top prize, beating every contender in 167 categories.

Lankaaster was described this way, by the Globe and Mail’s cheese columnist, Sue Riedl:

The Lankaaster has “notes of caramel, butterscotch, pineapple and butter that linger on the palate.”

News

Greyson And Loubani Back Home In Canada

Canadians John Greyson and Tarek Loubani are home at last.

The two were in an Egyptian jail for more than seven weeks.

They were never charged with any crime. Egyptian security held them in jail under terrible conditions.

Many people fought for Greyson and Loubani’s release. Canadian politicians, friends and family members, Canadian officials and even people Greyson and Loubani will likely never meet—tried to convince Egypt to let the pair go.

The two were in Egypt so Loubani, a doctor, could volunteer at a hospital there. Greyson, a filmmaker, was going to film his work.

Lighter News

Silly, Catchy Viral Music Video Asks, “What Does The Fox Say?”

Move over Psy, there’s a new viral music video on the Internet that’s getting millions of people dancing and laughing.

Psy is a singer who created Gagnam Style, a music video which featured a catchy tune and an interesting dance.

Gagnam Style has been viewed more than one billion times, by people all over the world. It went “viral.”

A “viral video” is one that is seen on the Internet by many people, and then the link to it is passed along to many more people.

Every time someone shares the link, the number of people who see the video increases.

A new music video called, “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” has recently gone viral. At 123,000,000 views, it may even catch up to Gagnam.

The video asks the question, “What does the fox say?”

News

Author Alice Munro Wins Nobel Prize In Literature

One of Canada’s best-loved authors has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes an author can win. It comes with a $1-million cash award.

Alice Munro won the prize for her brilliant short stories.

Munro, 82, grew up in a small town in Ontario. Many of her stories are set in rural Ontario.

In making the announcement, Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, called Munro “master of the contemporary short story.”

Munro was surprised and delighted to find out she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

She told CBC News that, “I never thought I would win.”