IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
Selene San Felice said she often questioned how or why she survived the shooting that left five others dead at a Maryland newspaper. Montana Winters Geimer described the grievous loss she and the community suffered when her mother, longtime local journalist Wendi Winters, was killed in the attack.
San Felice and Winters Geimer were among several survivors and relatives of victims of the June 2018 killings at the Capital Gazette newspaper who testified in court Tuesday before a judge sentenced the shooter to more than five life terms without the possibility of parole.
“We lost the storyteller of our family, and as a community we lost the storyteller for everyone that is an Annapolitan,” Winters Geimer said.
Judy Hiaasen spoke of how difficult it was to even talk about the loss of her younger brother, Rob Hiaasen, who was an editor and columnist at the paper. She described his ability to keep memories of their mother and father alive. Now, she said, “That story has been taken from me.”
“My little brother was slaughtered, and the impact of that loss is indescribable,” she said. “It is unique, and it is never-ending.”
Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs described shooter Jarrod Ramos' actions as a “cold-blooded, calculated attack on the innocent employees of a small-town newspaper.” Ramos used a shotgun to kill his victims.
“The impact of this case is just simply immense,” Wachs said. “To say that the defendant exhibited a callous and complete disregard for the sanctity of human life is simply a huge understatement.”
Wachs gave Ramos an additional 345 years to underscore the fact that he would never be released from prison. And he ordered another life sentence for the attempted murder of photographer Paul Gillespie, who had previously testified that Ramos barely missed him with a shotgun blast as he ran out of the newsroom.
While Gillespie said he didn't believe there could have been a better outcome at the sentencing hearing, he doubted a full sense of closure would ever be possible after losing his five colleagues.
“I was almost killed myself,” Gillespie said outside the courthouse. “It's something that haunts me every day.”
In July, a jury took less than two hours to reject arguments from Ramos' lawyers during a 12-day trial that he was not criminally responsible due to mental illness for killing Winters, Hiaasen, John McNamara, Gerald Fischman and Rebecca Smith.
Ramos had pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible to all 23 counts against him in 2019, using Maryland's version of an insanity defense. The case was delayed several times before and during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The judge was crystal clear that Jarrod Ramos should never be allowed to walk out of prison - ever,” Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said of the sentence handed out Tuesday.
San Felice, who watched one of her colleagues get shot and survived one of the deadliest attacks on a newsroom in U.S. history by hiding under her desk, testified that she and other survivors were determined to “press on” and not let the traumatic attack stop them.
“Remember this,” she said, as Ramos sat on the other side of the courtroom. “You cannot kill the truth.”
Ramos declined to make a statement in court when asked by his attorney, Katy O'Donnell.
Prosecutors said Ramos, 41, acted out of revenge against the newspaper after it published a story about his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of harassing a former high school classmate in 2011. Prosecutors said his long, meticulous planning for the attack - which included preparations for his arrest and long incarceration - proved he understood the criminality of his actions.
They also highlighted how Ramos called 911 from the newsroom after the shooting, identified himself as the gunman and said he surrendered - evidence, they said, that he clearly understood the criminality of his actions.
This story has been edited to correct the spelling of McNamara.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
In the quiet and leafy Vancouver neighbourhood of South Cambie, best known for its botanical garden, playoff fever is about to set in.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Biden wants the 2024 election to be a referendum on Trump's record and plans, but he also wants voters to look favourably on his own policies and actions
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.