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After Minnesota shootings, young lawmakers ask: Is politics worth it?

After Minnesota shootings, young lawmakers ask: Is politics worth it?

Washington Post8 hours ago

Greg Scott entered elected office in Pennsylvania at 28, full of optimism. Ten years later, he's full of fear.
A stalker left a dummy with a noose and racial slurs hanging above his parking spot. He's received threatening emails and social media posts. And he's watched with horror as fellow elected officials have been attacked and killed.

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RCMP union challenges bilingualism claim in province's Alberta Next survey
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RCMP union challenges bilingualism claim in province's Alberta Next survey

The union representing RCMP officers is disputing that its members do not have the opportunity to advance to senior roles unless they speak French, as claimed in the preamble to a new Alberta government survey. On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith launched the province's 15-member Alberta Next panel along with corresponding online engagement questionnaires. The panel is seeking feedback on measures Alberta could pursue to further assert itself against the federal government, with an initial focus on an Alberta pension plan, tax collection, immigration, constitutional changes, federal transfers including equalization, and a provincial police force. The panel's website has individual polls for each of those issues that can only be taken following a short animated video. 'Because of French-language requirements, English-speaking Alberta officers do not qualify for senior RCMP positions,' states the narration for the video prior to the survey on a provincial police force. The survey doesn't define what constitutes a senior position. In a statement to Postmedia, the National Police Federation (NPF) president and CEO Brian Sauvé challenged the survey's claim. 'As we've seen previously, the government of Alberta continues to mislead Albertans about the benefits of the Alberta RCMP,' he said. 'In its campaign, the government falsely claims that English-only members are barred from advancing to any senior ranks tied to government requirements. Unfortunately, this is yet another instance of the province spreading misinformation.' The NPF is Canada's largest police union, representing 20,000 RCMP members, and has also been a longtime opponent of a potential provincial police force. The office of Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis responded to those remarks by saying the union was mistaken. 'The National Police Federation is wrong,' reads a statement from Ellis's office. 'The RCMP has previously confirmed that all deputy and assistant commissioner positions in Ottawa are designated bilingual, as are senior positions held by civilians within senior staff.' It goes on to note prior media reporting that the Mounties had to implement new measures to ensure that current and prospective senior managers were bilingual. The statement did not address questions about the future of French-language policing in Alberta. The RCMP told Postmedia that bilingualism requirements for certain roles are not so simple, and vary by region. 'Alberta is designated as a unilingual region for language-of-work purposes, and the vast majority of senior leadership positions in Alberta are identified as English-essential,' said RCMP in an email. The statement adds that of the 3,691 bilingual regular member job positions across Canada, 142 of those roles are located in Alberta, and that there are currently 321 bilingual regular members in Alberta-based K-Division in Edmonton. The Alberta government has worked to establish the groundwork for a province-wide police agency, most recently through changes to the Police Act, which states the new service would be a Crown corporation operating at arm's-length from the province. In 2022, Canada's languages commissioner wrote to Alberta Justice seeking assurances about the preservation of French-language policing in the province should it drop the RCMP, according to an internal briefing note which reads, 'if Alberta creates its own provincial police service, the RCMP would be replaced by a police force that will no longer have the obligation to offer services in French.' According to the 2021 federal census, 261,435 Albertans were able to conduct a conversation in French with just over 88,000 Alberta residents identifying French as their mother tongue. mblack@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Quick-thinking Utah car dealer foils $95K auto theft scheme after spotting truck had a ‘suspicious' VIN
Quick-thinking Utah car dealer foils $95K auto theft scheme after spotting truck had a ‘suspicious' VIN

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Quick-thinking Utah car dealer foils $95K auto theft scheme after spotting truck had a ‘suspicious' VIN

A trio of alleged car thieves very nearly walked away with $95,000 recently. However, their scheme was thwarted by an observant car dealer at the Stephen Wade Auto Center in St. George, Utah. That employee's quick thinking enabled police to set up a sting, arrest three men and save the dealership from losing thousands paying for a stolen vehicle. And, it was all thanks to his careful checking of the vehicle identification number (VIN). I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? 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They found something surprising then — the VIN had been altered, though the change was hard to detect. When the real VIN was located, it revealed that the truck had been stolen. The dealership called law enforcement, who sprang into action to set up a sting after discovering Penaloza was coming back the next day to pick up the check. When Penaloza returned with two others, all three men were arrested. According to St. George News, a search of their car by detectives uncovered a $44,000 check from a different dealer to whom Penaloza sold another truck. Police said that the VIN on that vehicle had also been altered and, when the real one was checked, that truck had also been reported stolen. If the altered VIN hadn't been found, the scammers would have walked away with a reported $95,000. Read more: You don't have to be a millionaire to gain access to . In fact, you can get started with as little as $10 — here's how A VIN is a unique identifying number found within every vehicle. 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Otherwise, someone could steal it and use it in a scam like this one, attaching your legit VIN to a stolen car so when dealers search their database, everything comes up clear. Cybercriminals can also sometimes hack a vehicle from thousands of miles away by using the VIN and the owner's email to access a vehicle's app and take over. Obviously, you don't want that to happen. The good news, you can help keep your car's ID safe by covering the VIN with tape so people can't look in the window of the car and see the number. Car owners should also make sure to avoid providing their VIN to anyone they don't know and trust, so it won't fall into the wrong hands. As for car buyers, the key is to find a vehicle without a history of problems, like being reported stolen. Buyers should look carefully at the VIN in any vehicle they're considering to make sure it's not altered. 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