‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to land on Paramount+ in December

Alberta’s gopher museum closed until further notice as owners find new facility

A quirky Alberta roadside attraction that has delighted travellers for decades with its stuffed rodents in tiny costumes is closed until further notice.

The World Famous Gopher Hole Museum, located in Torrington, a hamlet about 120 kilometres north of Calgary, made the announcement online earlier this week.

Laural Kurta, museum director, said she was forced to close the doors because the two historical buildings that house the exhibits need to be replaced.

"We have done every patch repair, staple, spackle, everything we could possibly do, and it is just at its end," Kurta said in an interview Tuesday.

Dozens of Uber, Lyft drivers switched to cheaper insurance coverage: MPI probe

Ride-service drivers have been defrauding Manitoba Public Insurance by improperly insuring their vehicles as for personal use.

The public insurer and the City of Winnipeg, which regulates ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, discovered the widespread fraud after MPI conducted a review in December last year.

“When a driver changes their coverage from ride-share insurance to a personal vehicle coverage and continues to operate as a ride-share driver, that is fraud, plain and simple,” said MPI chief executive officer Satvir Jatana at a news conference Thursday.

MPI’s review looked at a random sample of 408 ride-hailing vehicles and found 108 were operating without the proper vehicle-for-hire insurance coverage. In order to register with the city as a ride-service driver, a vehicle must have such insurance and proof must be provided to the ride-booking company.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to land on Paramount+ in December

NEW YORK (AP) — Seven months after first arriving in theaters, “Top Gun: Maverick,” the year’s top film, will finally land on a streaming service.

Paramount Pictures announced Tuesday that “Top Gun: Maverick,” having made more than $1.48 billion worldwide at the box office, will debut Dec. 22 on Paramount+.

In an age where studios have increasingly pushed to shorten the span between theatrical and streaming, Paramount kept the Tom Cruise-starring “Top Gun” sequel going in theaters and, more recently on video-on-demand, for an uncommonly long and extremely lucrative run.

After being held for more than two years during the pandemic, “Top Gun: Maverick” was released in late May. It proved a juggernaut as the No. 1 film in North America for three straight weeks and even returned to the top spot over Labor Day weekend in September. It remained in the top 10 film at the domestic box office for 14 straight weeks. In late August, “Top Gun: Maverick” was released on premium on-demand for $20 (later reduced to $6) and again topped on-demand charts.

PCs renew calls for CFS inquiry

The Progressive Conservatives renewed calls to put Manitoba’s child and welfare system under the microscope Thursday, tabling a motion that urged the province to appoint a commissioner to lead a public inquiry.

Families critic Jodie Byram’s opposition day motion, which was ultimately defeated by the NDP majority, reiterated demands for an inquiry into the systemic failures of Child and Family Services, more than 20 years after the death of Phoenix Sinclair first prompted demands for answers.

“We have seen far too many children die under the care of CFS, and we need to determine where the gaps are in the system in order to make the system a safer place for children,” Byram told reporters before the motion was defeated in the legislature.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said in an interview that her department, CFS agencies and authorities are “doing good work” and won’t call an inquiry.

Sex offender who changed name sent back to prison

The father of a boy repeatedly abused by convicted sex predator Ryan Knight said he believes his son would have been kept safe had there been a law in place preventing sex offenders from legally changing their name.