Pearson relishing time behind bench

If you asked Ken Pearson when he began his career behind the bench 30 years ago how long he’d last in the business, he wouldn’t have had a clue.

Now, it’s safe to say it’s become more than anything he would have ever expected.

The head coach and general manager of the Neepawa Titans checked off two big milestones on Sunday night after coaching his 1,500th game in the Canadian Junior Hockey League following a 4-2 win over the Dauphin Kings at Credit Union Place. The victory was the Titans 18th of the season and was also the 750th of Pearson’s career in the regular season.

It’s hard to put into words what significance just a pair of numbers means to a person, but for Pearson, it’s rather simple.

Postal workers urged to reject tentative agreement

OTTAWA — The head of the union representing 55,000 Canada Post workers is calling for the employees to reject a tentative contract agreement in a vote this spring, even though a majority of the national executive board recommend that the deal be accepted.

A newsletter published by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Tuesday outlined the deal and said 60 per cent of the national executive board are recommending workers vote in favour of it.

But National president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Jan Simpson and four other members of the union’s leadership issued a minority report disagreeing, arguing the deal abandons most of what the union membership wanted to see in a contract.

“These agreements are a huge victory for the employer, the tentative agreements contain major changes, concessions and rollbacks,” said the minority report.

Alarm failed to sound before crash, safety officials say

NEW YORK — A fire truck had been cleared to cross a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport only 20 seconds before it collided with an Air Canada jet, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday of the fatal flight’s final moments.

Two pilots were killed in the collision with the truck on the runway Sunday night.

NTSB lead investigator Doug Brazy read out details from flight data and radio transmissions that traced the final three minutes of Flight AC8646 from Montreal to the busy New York airport, and offered a glimpse at possible staffing and technology issues that night.

Early details of the investigation revealed second-by-second decision-making inside the LaGuardia control tower as the Canadian pilots prepared to land.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Airstrikes battered Iran and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and sites across the Mideast on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war.

With thousands more U.S. Marines on their way to the Gulf, both sides firing barrages and Iran denying any negotiations are taking place, the war’s tempo remained high a day after Trump delayed his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s chokehold on that crucial waterway has snarled international shipping, sent fuel prices skyrocketing and threatened the world economy.

Pakistan offered to host diplomatic talks, but Iran remained defiant, vowing to fight “until complete victory.”

Any talks between the U.S. and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, it’s not clear who in Iran’s government would have the authority to negotiate — or be willing to, as Israel has vowed to continue taking out leaders after killing several.

Pride festivals seek $9M in fed funding

OTTAWA — Pride festivals are seeking $3 million annually from Ottawa to fill a funding gap left by corporations that have pulled back funding amid a backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“We are seeing corporate sponsors pull back their investment into Pride. This can be for a multitude of reasons — DEI pullbacks, the tariffs,” said Joseph Hoang, a director with Vancouver Pride.

“They are not coming to the table at the level that they used to be. This is why we are asking the federal government for this new funding.”

He was speaking Tuesday on Parliament Hill, joined by other executives who are seeking $9 million over three years to help 200 festivals maintain their operations. They are asking for funding to pay artists and logistics costs, separate from rising security expenditures.

Russia spring offensive againt Ukraine has started

KYIV, Ukraine — A major Russian drone and missile attack on civilian areas of Ukraine killed six people and injured at least 46, officials said Tuesday, while Moscow’s army stepped up efforts to break through Ukrainian front-line defences in what could be the start of an anticipated spring ground offensive.

Russia fired almost 400 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, in its biggest attack in weeks. The onslaught continued into Tuesday as dozens of drones targeted the capital Kyiv during daylight.

Russia launched swarms of Iranian-designed Shahed drones, hitting at least seven cities, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

Russia also launched 23 cruise missiles and seven ballistic missiles at Ukraine during the night, hitting at least 10 locations across the country, according to the air force. Daytime strikes injured 13 people, including three children, in the central Ukraine city of Dnipro, and another daylight attack hit an apartment block in the centre of the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border, where 13 people were injured, regional officials said.