B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from COVID-19 now says his listeners should get vaccinated.
Phil Valentine's brother, Mark Valentine, spoke at length on WWTN-FM in Nashville on Thursday about his brother's condition, saying he is in a critical care unit on supplemental oxygen, but not on a ventilator. Phil Valentine has had an afternoon talk radio show on the station for years.
"First of all, he's regretful that he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination," Mark Valentine said of his brother. "For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, `Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories."'
Mark Valentine took exception to the idea that Phil Valentine was anti-vaccination, labeling him "pro-information" and "pro-choice" on the vaccine but adding, "he got this one wrong."
After Phil Valentine tested positive for COVID-19 but prior to his hospitalization, he told his listeners to consider, "If I get this COVID thing, do I have a chance of dying from it?" If so, he advised them to get vaccinated. He said he made the decision not to get vaccinated because he thought he probably wouldn't die.
Phil Valentine also said that he was "taking vitamin D like crazy" and had found a doctor who agreed to prescribe ivermectin, a drug primarily used to treat parasites in animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns against taking ivermectin for COVID-19, advising that it is not an anti-viral drug and can be dangerous. With regards to vitamin D, the National Institutes of Health says, "There is insufficient evidence to recommend either for or against the use of vitamin D for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19."
Mark Valentine said he got vaccinated against COVID-19 after his brother became ill. Realizing that he has a family he is responsible for, he said not getting vaccinated "is just a selfish position to have, and, absent any concrete evidence to the contrary in terms of side effects and negative effects of the vaccine, I have a duty to do that."
Mark Valentine's comments came the same day Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee defended his administration's firing of the state's vaccination chief and rollback of outreach for childhood vaccines, both of which sparked national scrutiny over Tennessee's inoculation efforts against COVID-19.
Former state vaccine chief Michelle Fiscus has repeatedly said she was terminated to appease some GOP lawmakers who were outraged over state outreach for COVID-19 vaccinations to minors. Some lawmakers even threatened to dissolve the Health Department over the marketing.
Tennessee continues to have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country even as cases are rising. As of Thursday, 12,666 people in Tennessee had died from COVID-19.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
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.”
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.