Canadians feel grocery inflation getting worse, two in five boycotting Loblaw: poll
Almost two-thirds of Canadians feel that inflation at the grocery store is getting worse, a new poll suggests, even as food inflation has been steadily cooling.
A trio of new investigations is underway Monday to see who might be responsible for the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse that killed six people, destroyed a major thoroughfare and crippled the local economy.
On Monday, authorities confirmed the body of a fourth victim had been recovered. Officials have not released the victim’s identity, at the request of his family.
While federal authorities launch a criminal investigation, both the city and attorneys for several victims are also seeking accountability – especially after the ship’s owner and manager filed a court document trying to limit their financial liability.
The bridge collapsed around 1:30 a.m. March 26 after a massive cargo ship called the Dali lost power, veered off course and struck the bridge.
Six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the bridge plunged into the Patapsco River and died. But nearly three weeks after the disaster, two of their bodies are still missing.
Wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, as President Joe Biden takes an aerial tour of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Friday, April 5, 2024, as seen from an accompanying aircraft. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard are leading the criminal investigation into the ship crash that obliterated Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
Federal investigators will also look into whether the crew failed to report an earlier issue with the ship that delayed its departure, the official said Monday.
“The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency told CNN in a statement Monday.
The Washington Post first reported the criminal investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board has also been investigating why the 213-million-pound ship lost power and crashed into the 47-year-old bridge.
That probe has been focused on engine room equipment, the NTSB said last week.
The city of Baltimore is now looking into who might be responsible for destroying the bridge that 30,000 Marylanders relied on every day and clogging a channel vital to the local economy.
“Today, the City of Baltimore announced a partnership with the national complex issues and trial firm DiCello Levitt and Philadelphia law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky Trial Lawyers to launch legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement Monday.
“Through this engagement, the City of Baltimore will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy, including the owner, charterer, manager/operator, and the manufacturer of the M/V Dali, as well as any other potentially liable third parties.”
The mayor has also announced programs to help families of the victims as well as businesses and workers impacted by the catastrophe.
“We are continuing to do everything in our power to support everyone impacted here,” the mayor said, including “seeking recourse from those who may potentially be responsible.”
But, “with the ship’s owner filing a petition to limit its liability mere days after the incident, we need to act equally as quickly to protect the City’s interests,” he said.
The ship’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and manager, Synergy Marine PTE LTD, filed a petition in federal court asking for a $43.6 million limit on potential liability payouts.
“The Casualty was not due to any fault, neglect, or want of care on the part of Petitioners, the Vessel, or any persons or entities for whose acts Petitioners may be responsible,” the companies’ attorneys wrote in the petition filed April 1.
“Petitioners claim exoneration from liability for any and all losses or damage arising out of the Casualty and from any and all claims for damages that have been or may be filed. Petitioners further allege that they have valid defenses to any and all such claims.”
“Alternatively, if any such faults caused or contributed to the Casualty, or to any loss or damage arising out of the Casualty, which is denied, such faults were occasioned and occurred without Petitioners’ privity or knowledge,” the petition states.
But attorneys for some of the victims’ families slammed the companies’ efforts, saying they’re relying on an “archaic” maritime law from 1851 to try to limit liability.
Attorneys for the families of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and José Maynor López, who both died in the collapse, and Julio Cervantes, who fell from the bridge and survived, announced their own investigation Monday.
“We all know that the more eyes to investigate, the better – especially when you’re dealing with corporate giants of an industry,” attorney L. Chris Stewart said.
“As the bodies of our clients were still under the bridge, the owner of this boat was in court trying to protect their assets.”
CNN has reached out to the ship’s owner, Grace Ocean, for response to Monday’s newly announced investigations.
A spokesperson for Synergy Marine, the ship’s manager, expressed condolences “to all those impacted by this incident” but declined to respond in detail to the latest investigations.
“Due to the magnitude of the incident, there are various government agencies conducting investigations, in which we are fully participating,” the spokesperson told CNN on Monday.
“Out of respect for these investigations and any future legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Stewart, one of the victims’ families’ attorneys, said it’s important to not overlook the human toll of the catastrophe.
“(Ship owner) Grace Ocean has temporarily lost a ship. Baltimore has temporarily lost a bridge. But six families have permanently lost fathers, uncles, brothers – irreplaceable loved ones,” Stewart said. “That’s what’s getting lost in this entire situation.”
Kevin Mahoney, another attorney representing victims’ families, said the companies’ petition relies on an outdated law and called for Congress to repeal it.
“The Limitation of Liability Act was passed 173 years ago, in 1851. That’s about 20 years before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb,” Mahoney said.
“And yet it is being invoked today in this case in 2024, to not only attempt to limit but eliminate compensation to these families,” he said.
“We must take this opportunity to call upon Congress and take action and repeal the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.”
CNN’s Chris Boyette, Pete Muntean, Greg Wallace, Sahar Akbarzai and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.
Almost two-thirds of Canadians feel that inflation at the grocery store is getting worse, a new poll suggests, even as food inflation has been steadily cooling.
Ticks are parasitic bloodsuckers, capable of spreading deadly disease, and they’re becoming increasingly common. Here’s what you need to know about them.
Donald Trump had spent weeks needling U.S. President Joe Biden for his refusal to commit to a debate. But Washington political columnist Eric Ham describes how in one fell swoop, Biden ingeniously stole the issue from the Trump campaign and made it his own.
Norway, Ireland and Spain said on Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state, in a historic but largely symbolic move that deepens Israel’s isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza.
An Ontario mother lost $2,500 to a scammer pretending to be her daughter asking for help in late April.
From artificial intelligence running wild to collapsing ecosystems, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the near future.
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
Montreal photographer captured the moment a Canada Goose defended itself from a fox at the Botanical Garden.
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.