BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Well, it’s that time of year. Where the gift that keeps on giving are the holiday movie classics.
We all have a favorite, and I must confess in the movie marathon of feel good sentimental nostalgia, “A Christmas Story” has become a beloved time capsule.
Set in the 1940s, it tells the story of young Ralphie Parker and his memories of growing up: his family, his friends, his run-ins with the school bully and his forbidden Christmas wish for a BB gun.
And not just any BB gun, but the official “Red Ryder Carbine Action 200 shot range model air rifle.” As he schemes and dreams, everyone from his mother to the store Santa warns him “You’ll shoot your eye out!”
It was a sleeper of a movie back in 1983, but on the holiday cable loop it became a cult classic. Now, the "Christmas Story" house used in the film, in Cleveland, Ohio, is up for sale. Leg lamp and all.
“I will definitely miss it,” says owner Brian Jones. “Most of my adult life has been 'A Christmas Story' and running this business.”
For two decades, the Navy veteran, and self-described superfan after getting a leg lamp gag gift (yes, that leg lamp, with the black fishnet stocking from the movie), has been steward of the home that has served as a museum and gift shop – welcoming about 80,000 other superfans a year. However, Jones says, it's time for new vision to keep the "Christmas Story" legend alive.
“I’m looking for somebody who has the passion and a desire for the movie that I do,” Jones said.
(Image from Hoff & Leigh listing for 3159 W 11th St. in Cleveland, Ohio)
If you don’t know it, Canada had a starring role in the film. From the tree farm to the neighbourhood where Ralphie is chased by the town bully to the Chinese restaurant: all shot in Toronto.
Even the bully, played by actor Zack Ward, is Canadian.
“I hope he gets a fantastic buyer,” Ward says on the selling of the Ohio tourist museum. Jones has “been working on it for 20 years, and wanting to take a break and move on, which makes perfect sense.”
Ward, who recently reprised his role with Ralphie and the boys in a grown-up sequel “A Christmas Story Christmas,” describes why the movie touches a chord with so many.
“There’s no superpowers. There’s no Santa Claus flying through the sky. There’s no elves delivering presents. It’s a story about real people. But there’s real magic and what I mean by real magic is they can see how the family struggles together to overcome the difficult times.”
(Image from Hoff & Leigh listing)
Two years ago, Ward’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Stage 4, a painful confusing experience he describes as “like getting hit by a pile driver.”
This holiday, he’ll be raising money to help fight the disease.
He told CTV News, “I figured being as recognized and recognizable as (his character in 'A Christmas Story') is, that maybe the bully could do some good.”
He’ll be out signing autographs and welcoming fans at the "Christmas Story" house in Cleveland later this month - raccoon hat included.
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.