News

We start off with a weather warning as we are headed into a very cold and snowy weekend so bundle up if you need to go out and watch for frostbite. I’ll have the detailed forecast following the sports.
In breaking news, reports are coming in that Canadian snowboarder and notorious drug kingpin and murder Ryan Wedding has finally been found and been arrested, Stay tuned to County FM as updates become available.
ROMA
At this week’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference, a delegation from Prince Edward County led by Mayor Steve Ferguson took part in three delegation meetings with provincial ministries.

The county delegation met with a large panel of ministry representatives to advocate for further provincial investments in water and wastewater infrastructure in the County. The Mayor also urged the Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister to consider reinstating rent controls, in light of the high cost of rental dwellings in the county, and for movement on reinstating property reassessments in Ontario, which were last undertaken in 2016.
The county delegation also raised concerns about the long timelines for processing vulnerable sector screening checks with Solicitor General representatives and OPP Deputy Commissioner Chris Harkins. They statetd that delays are impacting employee and volunteer recruitment, especially at the municipality’s long-term care home. The delegation was pleased to learn that new processes and resources are now in place that will result in a much shorter timeframe for the checks.

TIKTOK
TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, said it has finalized a deal yesterday to set up a majority American-owned joint venture company to avoid a U.S. ban on the popular short video app used by more than 200 million Americans.

The deal is ⁠a milestone for the video-sharing ⁠app after years of battles that began in August 2020, when U.S. President Donald Trump first tried unsuccessfully ⁠to ban it over national security concerns.

Earlier this week, Canada’s federal court overturned a government order to close TikTok’s Canadian operations, allowing TikTok to continue operating for the time being.

On Wednesday, federal court judge Russel Zinn set aside the order and sent the matter ⁠back to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for review. He did not give any reasons. Back in November 2024, Canada’s industry ministry ordered TikTok’s business to be dissolved, citing national-security risks, but TikTok appealed the decision.

TikTok welcomed the decision to set aside the shutdown order and stated that they
look forward to working with the minister toward a resolution that’s in the best interest of the more than 14 million Canadians using their app.

IRAN
On the international scene, Iran’s top prosecutor called U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters there “completely false.” Meanwhile, the overall death toll from a bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations is reported to have exceed 5,002 peole.

Activists fear many more are dead. They struggle to confirm information as the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iran’s history has crossed the two-week mark.
Tensions remain high between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East.

Analysts say a military buildup could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though so far he’s avoided that despite repeated warnings to Tehran. The mass execution of prisoners had been one of his red lines for military force, with the other being the killing of peaceful demonstrators.

And finally, a scientific report published this week details that cows are smarter than we think. The cognitive biologists from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have long been studying the use of tools by among non-human animals, but they’d never seen it in a cow before.

Veronika is a 13-year-old brown Swiss cow who lives as a pet in the mountain village of Nötsch in southern Austria was noticed her picking up branches and using them to scratch herself about nine years ago. Over the years, she learned to use short ones to relieve itches near her head, and long ones to get to those hard-to-reach places,

Researchers rushed to the farm and gave her a broom. Not only did Veronika immediately show a preference for scratching with the bristled side of the broom, but she started figuring out different ways of using the tool to meet her varying needs.
She used the broom-end to scratch the thick-skinned parts of her body, like her back, but switched to the handle to get at the softer, more sensitive areas, like her udder and belly.

If only we could train cows to shovel snow.

Sports

In Junior hockey, it is a very busy weekend for the Wellington Dukes. Tonight they are at home to take on the Markham Royals. Then it’s on the road for a Saturday night tilt against Stouffville Spirit. Then back home Sunday night when the Caledon Admirals sail into town. All three games start at 7:30. Remember you can catch the live play-by-play of Saturday night’s game right here on 99.3 County FM with our own announcer Craig Foster Hewitt.

After this weekend, the Dukes will have a dozen games left to go in the regular season and currently have a playoff spot as they sit in 6th place.

The County’s other Junior team, the Picton Pirates have a much easier schedule this weekend with one road game on Saturday afternoon. They will be in Lakefield doing battle with the Chiefs. That game starts at 4:30.

NFL
In the NFL, Sunday will see the two conference championship games that will determine who will go to the Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, CA on February 8th. First up is the AFC final Sunday afternoon at 3:00 PM. The Denver Broncos are hosting the New England Patriots. New England is favoured to win as Denver lost their starting Quarterback Bo Nix to injury in last weekend’s Divisional playoff.

Quite the different scenario over in the NFC championship where the number one scoring offence, the LA Rams, head up the Pacific coast to Seattle to face the number one defence Seahawks. Seattle is the slight favourite in that game.

NHL
In the NHL, there are three Canadian teams in action tonight. At 7:00 pm, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to town. At 9:00, it will be the Calgary Flames at home to the Washington Capitals. An hour after that it is the Vancouver Canucks turn as the New Jersey Devils come to Rogers Arena,