Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
An emotional audition on "American Idol" by a survivor of a Texas high school shooting prompted tears from the judges and criticism of the country's response to gun violence.
Trey Louis was one of the students at Santa Fe High School in May 2018 when another student fatally shot 10 people on campus.
After his audition, which aired on Sunday, Louis told the judges -- Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan -- that one of the reasons he wanted to participate in the singing competition was because of the shooting.
"Lost a lot of friends. Eight students were killed. Two teachers were killed. It's just really been negative, man. Santa Fe has had a bad rap here since 2018," said Louis, who was in an art class finishing a project when the gunman started firing in a room next door.
Perry began to cry, placing her hands over her face and bowing her head. She then lifted her head and yelled out, "Our country has (expletive) failed us."
"Facts," Louis said.
"This is not OK. You should be singing here because you love music," Perry said.
Wiping away tears, Richie said: "We have tolerated this for so long, too long. It's become a norm."
Louis told KTRK-TV in Houston that the song he chose for his audition, "Stone" by Whiskey Myers, was in honor of his friend Chris Stone, who was one of the students killed.
The 21-year-old mattress salesman said he didn't realize he had a talent for singing until about a year ago when he posted a video online of him singing at work. The video went viral, he said, getting thousands of views.
Just before the judges unanimously voted to send Louis to the next round in Hollywood, Perry said, "I hope that you remind people that we have to change because you know what, I'm scared too."
"We've got to change and I hope you can just lead. Can you do me that favor?" Perry said.
"For myself, for my school, for you," Louis said.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, then a 17-year-old student, has been charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths.
Pagourtzis, now 22, has been ruled incompetent to stand trial and has been receiving mental health treatment at a state hospital since early December 2019. Earlier in February, a judge ordered that he be held at the hospital for up to another year. Santa Fe is located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
U.S. President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Quebec is investing $603 million over the next five years to counter what its French-language minister describes as the decline of the French language in the province.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Ukraine's troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country's army chief said Sunday, warning of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach combat zones.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
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.
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.”