Latest news with #McKee
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Judge-Alone Trial Protocol Aims To Speed Up Justice
Minister for Courts Minister for Courts Nicole McKee has welcomed the rollout of an updated protocol for judge-alone trials, effective from today (1 August), aimed at further enhancing court timeliness. 'Improving court performance remains a key priority for this Government. We appreciate the judiciary and justice sector's collaboration in refining this important protocol,' Mrs McKee says. First introduced in 2021 and piloted in select courts in 2022, the Judge-Alone Trial (JAT) protocol has been revised with input from judges, lawyers, and justice agencies. From today, it will be implemented across all District Courts. The protocol strengthens case readiness by introducing a registrar-led teleconference between prosecution and defence three weeks before trial. It also allows courts to start earlier to review and prioritize scheduled cases, optimizing judicial time. 'Our goal is fair and timely justice for victims, defendants, witnesses, and whānau, helping communities heal and move on,' Mrs McKee says.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Commercial traffic not included in upcoming toll cuts
Despite the cuts to bridge and ferry tolls in P.E.I., commercial traffic will not benefit from the reduction. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Atlantic Canadians are seeing a mix of savings and disappointment after the federal government announced cuts to bridge and ferry tolls. While Confederation Bridge tolls will drop to $20 this Friday and some ferry fares will be slashed, not everyone is benefiting. Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking in Albany, P.E.I., yesterday said, 'We would cut the fares on the Eastern Ferries and Marine Atlantic in half, and today we're making good on those promises.' The announcement included a 50 per cent fare reduction for commercial trucks on some Maritime ferries, but Marine Atlantic, which serves Newfoundland, is not included in the discount. Chris McKee of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association expressed his disappointment, stating, 'Our understanding from Marine Atlantic Is that commercial traffic will not benefit from this 50 per cent reduction in fares which is rather disappointing.' Transportation and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland noted the importance of Marine Atlantic for Newfoundland's supply chain, saying, 'Nearly 65 per cent of goods to and from Newfoundland are transported by Marine Atlantic. That includes fresh produce, medical supplies in home heating fuel cutting those costs means more reliable supply chain and lower prices for consumers.' McKee argues the lack of discounts on Marine Atlantic ferries will negate those benefits. 'Unfortunately, this reduction, while great for tourists and for passenger traffic, sure will likely not lead to any decreases in the price of moving freight to and from Newfoundland, which of course, is ultimately passed along to the consumer,' said McKee. Bay Ferries and Northumberland Ferries will implement the 50 per cent discount for commercial traffic. Marine Atlantic will freeze rates but offer no additional discount. In a statement to CTV, a Marine Atlantic spokesperson said, 'From Marine Atlantic's perspective, we are a federal Crown Corporation that reports to Transport Canada. We will work with them regarding funding decisions that will help offset this loss of revenue, while delivering on their commitment and maintaining an effective service for our customers.' Despite the Marine Atlantic situation, McKee believes the cuts to other ferry services will provide some relief to the trucking industry. 'This change could save a medium sized carrier on the island with, let's say 75 to 80 trucks, close to $150,000-$175,000 a year.' McKee also pointed out the $1,300 cost of sending a truck from North Sydney to Port aux Basques is significant, and discounts on that route are needed, given the high volume of exports to Newfoundland. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
What is CTE and its connection to the NFL and other contact sports?
A gunman who opened fire in a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday believed he suffered a brain injury that he blamed on the National Football League, New York's mayor said, thrusting the issue of chronic traumatic encephalopathy back into headlines this week. According to police, Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old former high school football player with a history of mental illness, killed four people with an assault rifle in a Park Avenue office tower that houses NFL headquarters before shooting himself in the chest. The following is a breakdown of what CTE is and its relationship to contact sports. CTE is a degenerative disease caused by repeated impacts to the head, including both concussive and asymptomatic non-concussive hits. Doctors are only able to make a confirmed diagnosis after death, though common symptoms including aggression and dementia may surface while a patient is living. Research has found a connection between CTE and athletes who have competed in tackle football at both the professional and amateur levels. The NFL has acknowledged a link between football-related concussions and CTE. In 2015, the league agreed to a roughly $1-billion settlement for concussion-related lawsuits with thousands of retired players after the deaths of some high-profile players. Boston University's CTE Center diagnosed 345 former NFL players with CTE out of 376 studied, as of 2023. 'If they've been exposed to football for a long time, that increases their risk,' Dr. Ann McKee, director of the CTE Center, told Reuters. Tamura did not compete in the NFL, the highest level of professional American football, but played at a Los Angeles charter school until graduating in 2016. Junior Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker and Hall of Famer, died by suicide in 2012. A study of his brain later showed he had suffered from CTE, a case that accelerated the national conversation around brain injuries in the NFL. Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and died by suicide in prison in 2017, was found to have pronounced signs of the disease, according to Boston University findings. Ex-NFL player Phillip Adams gunned down six people and himself in 2021. McKee found he had suffered Stage 2 CTE after examining his brain. Concussions fell to a record low during the most recent NFL season, with the league crediting improvements in helmet technology as well as rule changes for the decline. Enhanced concussion protocols were implemented in 2022 after the NFL faced intense criticism over head injuries suffered by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The league previously banned dangerous helmet-to-helmet hits. But some researchers, including McKee, have said the measures fall short. 'They have addressed concussion, but that's the tip of the iceberg. The real issue is the asymptomatic hits to the head that don't cause concussion, and there's been very little done to address that,' said McKee. Researchers have identified a connection between CTE and other sports, including rugby, ice hockey, and soccer. A group action in the United Kingdom involves more than 1,000 mostly former rugby players, including many high-profile internationals, who say the sport's governing bodies failed to do enough to protect them from potential brain injuries despite being aware of the risks. World Rugby, the sport's governing body, has introduced a series of player welfare measures in recent years in an attempt to minimize concussions and head injuries in the sport.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Foulkes extends fundraising edge over McKee. Here's how much she has in the bank.
As the 2026 Rhode Island campaign for governor nears, Helena Foulkes is extending her fundraising advantage over incumbent Gov. Dan McKee. Foulkes, the former CVS executive who came in second to McKee in the 2022 Democratic primary, raised $636,125 in the second quarter of the year and had $2.1 million in the bank at the end of June, her campaign said Tuesday, July 29. McKee raised $205,000 in the second quarter, a third of Foulkes' haul. He had $879,000 in the bank at the end of June, according to his campaign, less than half Foulkes' total. In a news release, the McKee campaign noted that $171,000 of his quarterly total came in June after he hired a full-time finance director. "Governor McKee will be re-elected because he has a strong record of fighting for Rhode Islanders and delivering on the issues that matter most," McKee campaign manager Rob Silverstein said in the release. "Our campaign will continue to highlight the governor's decisive actions on raising family incomes, education, reproductive care, clean energy, and gun safety – all while articulating a forward-looking vision for the state's future." McKee is the only candidate to have officially announced a 2026 campaign for governor, but Foulkes is widely expected to run. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi remains a wild card in the race for governor and would still have the largest campaign war chest if he decides to get in the race. Shekarchi has not yet announced his second-quarter fundraising total − filings are not due to the state Board of Elections until July 31 − but had $3.4 million in the bank at the end of March. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Helena Foulkes extends fundraising edge over incumbent RI Gov. Dan McKee Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
What is CTE, the brain condition referenced by Midtown Manhattan shooter Shane Tamura?
Shane Tamura, the gunman in Monday's deadly Midtown Manhattan shooting, wrote about the brain disease CTE in a note obtained by investigators. New York City Mayor Eric Adams told CBS News that Tamura's note included reference to CTE and the NFL. "The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports. He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury," Adams said. Though Tamura never played in the NFL, investigators believe that the shooter may have been targeting the NFL offices inside the office building where he killed four people. The three-page note found in Tamura's pocket said that he wanted to have his brain donated to science so it could be researched, according to law enforcement sources. It is unknown at this time if Tamura had CTE; it can only be diagnosed post-mortem. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Las Vegas law enforcement confirmed Tamura had a history of mental health issues. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a brain disease that is most common in athletes who play contact sports, such as football players, ice hockey players and boxers. It is a degenerative disease, occurring after repeated head injuries cause cells in the brain to die. Dr. Anne McKee, the director of the CTE Center at Boston University, said while CTE is most talked about in professional athletes, it has also been found in student-athletes. Tamura played high school football in California in 2014, according to articles from the Santa Clarita Valley Signal. "Being a high school football player is certainly a possibility for CTE," Dr. McKee said. "We have a recent study where we found about 30% of former high school players had CTE. Now that's a very select group of people. It doesn't mean 30% of the general population of high school football players have CTE, but it's a distinct possibility." She said that CTE can occur without someone receiving a concussion, but rather, "It's the hits that don't cause any symptoms, the hits that we consider minor hits that the player plays right through, asymptomatic hits, but those hits can be very substantial." CTE, she explained, has four stages of progression. "Nerve cells are probably being lost with most of these hits. There's tremendous inflammation. There's vascular changes. So even though the hits stop, the injury to the brain persists, and it doesn't recover, especially if they're getting repeated hits in a short amount of time, so the brain isn't allowed to recover," Dr. McKee said. "It sets up a situation where there's a vicious cycle inside the brain where you've got inflammation, vascular change, changes to the nerve cells and eventually tau deposition, which goes on, even though the trauma, the hits to the head, have stopped." Tau is an abnormal protein, which, when built up, can be also be a marker of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, the only way to detect CTE is to stain the proteins during an autopsy of brain tissue, which is complex and can take several months. "I just think this is an urgent call for us to do something as a society about the risk for CTE that's experienced by amateur contact sport players. It's not just the professional athletes. It's the high school players and the college players who are also at risk and that's where we need to address the real changes in the games," Dr. McKee said. Irritability, inattention, and behavioral changes such as aggression or impulsivity are common first indicators of CTE, according to Dr. McKee. The damage "usually begins in small spots in the frontal lobes," she explained. "But over time, with aging, it starts affecting widespread regions of the brain and can cause profound memory loss and even dementia." Symptoms of CTE do not typically appear right after someone receives a head injury, but rather develop as time goes on, according to the Mayo Clinic. The hospital says additional symptoms of CTE can include trouble thinking and planning, mood changes, suicidal thoughts and substance misuse. Patients may also have trouble with balance and walking, and may develop shaking and trouble speaking. "We have seen individuals with CTE that have had substantial breaks with reality," Dr. McKee added. "There's precedence where a former football player has a break of homicidal violence and this kind of behavior is obviously something we need to prevent." CTE has become more talked about in recent years as more cases of the disease are found in former NFL players. Aaron Hernandez, a former New England Patriots player and convicted murderer, was diagnosed with stage 3 CTE after his death. Dr. McKee said at the time that he had one of the worst cases of the disease she had ever seen. Former NFL player and CBS Sports analyst Irv Cross was diagnosed with stage 4 CTE. His widow said that at the time of his death, he was seeing things. The BU CTE Center said that out of 376 former NFL players it has tested, 345 had CTE. The NFL has made changes in recent years to prevent head injuries, including new rules and equipment. "The NFL has definitely made rule changes to the play of the game that make the game safer for the players, but they haven't done enough, and they really set the stage for all high school and even college football players," Dr. McKee said. In 2024, the league announced that it will allow players to wear special head protection called Guardian Caps to give more protection against head injuries. Guardian Caps are soft coverings that wrap around the NFL hard-shell helmets, reducing the impact from head injuries. The NFL also changed kickoffs to reduce full-speed tackles. But Dr. McKee said she believes the organization should be doing more. "They need to do much more than just the helmet design, which is never going to prevent CTE. It's really rules of play and styles of play, eliminating the hits to the head that occur in practice as well as games, paying attention to the players, monitoring the players for the number of hits they've sustained and actually keep track of the players over time," she Milton contributed to this report.
