Founder built New Flyer into largest bus firm in North America

Jan den Oudsten, Officer of the Order of Canada and founder of New Flyer Industries, has passed away at age 92.

Thermëa spa advises customers of data hack

Manitobans who’ve recently bought gift cards for Nordic-style spa Thermëa have been warned their personal information may have been leaked in a data breach.

Job fair helps employers find right people to fill staffing needs

Organizers of Thursday’s Hospitality Tourism Retail job fair at the RBC Convention Centre are hoping the weather won’t keep people away because demand for workers remains high.

Are robot waiters the future? Some restaurants think so

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — You may have already seen them in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and ferry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Some have cat-like faces and even purr when you scratch their heads.

But are robot waiters the future? It’s a question the restaurant industry is increasingly trying to answer.

Many think robot waiters are the solution to the industry’s labor shortages. Sales of them have been growing rapidly in recent years, with tens of thousands now gliding through dining rooms worldwide.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is where the world is going,” said Dennis Reynolds, dean of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston. The school’s restaurant began using a robot in December, and Reynolds says it has eased the workload for human staff and made service more efficient.

Trump arrest prompts Jesus comparisons: ‘Spiritual warfare’

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the most devoted Trump conspiracy theorists, there are no coincidences and timing is everything.

So when ex-President Donald Trump was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he falsified business records to obscure hush money payments in an effort to influence the 2016 election, some of his most ardent followers quickly noted the court appearance came during Christianity’s most sacred week, Holy Week, when many Christians commemorate Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

“Seems there was someone else who was tortured and crucified this week,” read one post on Gab, a platform popular with Trump supporters. A similar post on Telegram put Trump's case in apocalyptic terms: “Good vs Evil. Biblical times. Divine timing.”

Comparisons likening Trump to Christ were among the top online narratives about the Republican former president and his criminal charges circulating in the last several days, according to an analysis of online and social media content conducted by Zignal Labs, a media intelligence firm, on behalf of The Associated Press.

EPA tightens mercury emissions limits at coal power plants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening rules that limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal-fired power plants, updating standards imposed more than a decade ago.

The rules proposed Wednesday would lower emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults.

The move follows a legal finding by EPA in February that regulating toxic emissions under the Clean Air Act is “appropriate and necessary” to protect the public health. The Feb. 17 finding reversed a move by former President Donald Trump’s administration to weaken the legal basis for limiting mercury emissions.

The proposed rule will support and strengthen EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which have delivered a 90% reduction in mercury emissions from power plants since they were adopted in 2012 under former President Barack Obama, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.

Nutrien CEO bullish on Canadian food production

TORONTO - Canada is poised to play a big role in global food production as climate change makes farming more difficult and the world’s food supply chain is rendered fragile by political and economic uncertainty, said Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz.

Seitz made the remarks in Toronto at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Canada.

He said climate change is redrawing the map of global food production and Canada has an opportunity to be a key player in addressing food insecurity.

The world faces a double-barrelled problem, said Seitz: “To feed a rapidly growing world, we’ll need to produce more food and we’ll need to do it sustainably.”