Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
A parolee who murdered 81-year-old philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of a legendary music executive, was sentenced Tuesday to 190 years in a California prison.
Aariel Maynor, 30, pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in Los Angeles Superior Court last month and admitted he used an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle to shoot Avant in her Beverly Hills home Dec. 1 and fired several rounds at her security guard as he fled.
Avant was married to Clarence Avant, a Grammy winner known as the “Godfather of Black Music” for mentoring and helping the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Maynor shot Jacqueline Avant in the back when she surprised him after he broke into the couple's house during a burglary attempt in which he hoped to steal $50,000, prosecutors said. After fleeing the scene, he broke into a home in the Hollywood Hills and then accidentally shot himself in the foot as he was leaving.
Avant used her money for charities that helped low-income neighborhoods such as Watts and South Los Angeles. She was on the board of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Clarence Avant, 91, a concert promoter and manager, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year.
Prosecutors said Maynor had searched for information on Clarence Avant and the couple's address the day before the killing.
Maynor showed no remorse for the slaying, bragging to a friend on a jail phone call about all the news stories about him and laughing, according to a court document filed by Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila.
“You think my mama's seen that?” he asked.
“I don't know, but that's not funny,” the woman, who was not identified, said. “Why are you laughin'? That's somebody's life. That's somebody's family member.”
The Avants were married for 54 years and had two children, Alexander Du Bois Avant and Nicole Avant, a film producer and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas who is married to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
After Jacqueline Avant's death, tributes were paid to her and her charitable work by former President Bill Clinton, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Quincy Jones.
Maynor, who was on parole for his second robbery conviction, bragged to a friend during a jail call that he expected a shorter sentence because prosecutors were not seeking life without parole.
“I'm gonna get out of jail. I'll probably do like 20 ... 25, get out, you feel me?” he said.
Under District Attorney George Gascon, the office did not seek a special circumstance allegation that the killing was committed in the act of a burglary, which could have led to a possible sentence of life without parole.
Instead, prosecutors sought an enhanced penalty under the Three Strikes law where a third serious or violent felony can trigger a life sentence.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
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.
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.