News
We begin the news with a weather alert for the County. Due to rapidly falling temperatures, the rain we are getting could quickly turn to icy conditions making travel hazardous this afternoon. Listen for more details in the weather forecast.
In other local news, Prince Edward County has denied the construction of a new subdivision along Fawcett Avenue. The plan that includes 31 lots for single-detached homes and 54 townhouse units, was looked at during Wednesday’s planning and development committee meeting.
Several local residents spoke at the meeting and raised concerns about the development including excessive traffic, difficulty with snow clearance, and loss of trees.
Council members also had concerns with the plan, mirroring those raised by the public.
The plan was rejected by the committee after brief debate.
TIKTOK
In business news, TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to three American investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the country. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22nd. with Orcle responsible for the storage of US user data.
The three investors in the new TikTok U.S. joint venture will each hold a 15% share of the company. About 20 per cent will be retained by the China-based ByteDance with the remainder residing with an assortment of global ByteDance investors. D
uration2:02
In April 2024, after large bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and then-president Joe Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline.
For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration tried to reach an agreement for the sale of the company.
UKRAINE
President Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine today and accused the European Union of attempting “daylight robbery” of Russian assets. Putin set out the Kremlin’s stance in the opening moments of his annual end-of-year news conference, a marathon call-in event that typically runs for some four hours.
Putin reiterated the demands he made 18 months ago that Ukraine abandon its ambition of joining the NATO military alliance and withdraw entirely from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own territory if there is to be a peace agreement.
After nearly four years, the war stands at a delicate juncture after the U.S. pushed for a peace deal on terms that Ukraine and its European allies feared were slanted toward Russia. Putin said that he is waiting to hear from Washington on how its draft peace proposals have been modified to meet his demands.
And finally, in the spirit of the holiday season, a county resident was the beneficiary of an act of kindness. While vacationing in the Caribbean, he lost his phone while touring his island paradise. After retracing his steps, the phone could not be found. The hotel concierge called his phone and a lady with an American southern accent, answered, responding “I have been waiting for some to call. She said she would drop it off at the hotel right away.
The owner of the phone was patiently waiting in the lobby when an attractive women entered and headed towards him. After exchanging greetings and appreciation for the kind gesture, they parted as friends. Our local’s final remark was “Thank you Santa”.
Sports
WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY
A week from today, the World Junior Championship will get underway in Minnesota. Canada’s opening match is against Czechia. There may be a 30 year repeat in the making. Forward Tij Iginla is part of the 27 player roster for Canada. In 1996, Tij’s father, Jerome Iginla and Calgary Flames all-star, was a member of our World Junior championship winning Team in Massachusetts.
The elder Iginila also achieved gold medals at the Memorial Cup, World Championship, World Cup and two Olympics, but lost out in game seven of the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. Hopefully the apple does not fall far from the family tree.
For hockey trivia buffs, only two players have run the table adding a Stanley Cup to their gold medals……. Scott Neidermeyer and Corey Perry….. who were teammates with Jerome Iginla on Canada’s 2010 Olympic Gold Medal Team.
NHL
In NHL action tonight, there are two Canadian teams taking to the ice in someone else’s arena. The last place Vancouver Canucks will be in Nassau County, New York to take on the Islanders, who sit in second spot in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets sitting in the 11 spot in the Western Conference will be visiting the conference and league leading Colorado Avalanche. Colorado has only failed twice to get points in 33 games and are undefeated at home in regulation time with only two overtime defeats.
