ocean magic factory TIMMINS - Progress is being made on a new francophone health centre. Construction on the Centre de santé communautaire de Timmins (CSC Timmins) is set to be completed by June 2025. The facility, located at 120 Kent Ave., will enhance accessibility, expand services and provide space for community programs. In mid-December, CSC Timmins executive director Michelle Stevens said the crews were working on the interior framing work. “There were other buildings that were on that property prior. So there were a couple hurdles with regards to site work and finding some concrete and some original sewage tanks from way back,” she said. The project has stayed on track and on budget, Stevens said. Ground was broken in May of this year, with the project being funded by over $16 million from the province, including $1.1 million for early planning and $15.6 million for construction. SEE: Ground officially broken on new Timmins health centre The previous building on the site, the former École catholique St-Charles, was demolished in 2022. The medical clinic is currently operating at the Timmins Square, and the administrative staff has been working from offices on Wilson Avenue while the new facility is completed. The new facility will improve operations and accessibility for both staff and clients, Stevens said. The consolidation of services will eliminate confusion around appointment locations, reduce barriers for clients and foster stronger internal communication among team members. “It will just take away so many barriers to accessibility for clients. Remove confusion with regards to location of appointments. It will strengthen the team and the internal communication within team members. We’re counting down the days,” she said. The new space will allow the centre to offer community programming currently limited by a lack of facilities, Stevens said. Programs such as fall prevention, chair yoga and brain function activities will be held on-site rather than in rented gyms or outdoor spaces. Stevens said patients can look forward to easier parking, a single-level building with no stairs and a streamlined experience where multiple services — such as nurse practitioner visits, physiotherapy and social work — can all happen under one roof, in a safe location. “It’s stressful for clients to move around from one location to the other. Especially for the older population, parking is an issue,” she said. Stevens highlighted the benefits of the new design. “Because we don’t have sufficient exam rooms right now, we have to offer a lot of virtual appointments and structure schedules in a way that’s more complicated for staff. With the new centre, we’ll be able to open up so many more in-person appointments with access to exam rooms,” she said. The facility will also include sufficient exam rooms to offer paediatric services to the community and surrounding areas at large, as well as to accommodate “baby orphan patients.”Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong declares for NFL draft, skipping bowlRelentless floods. Searing Heat. Vanishing coastlines. Thailand's cities are under siege from climate risks. Without urgent intervention, the worst is yet to come. The evidence is clear: Cities in Thailand are grappling with triple climate challenges -- rising temperatures, destructive floods, and coastal erosion. These threats do not endanger lives and ecosystems. They also cause significant economic loss since cities are the backbone of the economy. Globally, cities generate 80% of GDP while hosting over 56% of the population. Repeated extreme weather events can lead to economic disaster. Thailand is no exception. Heatwaves Over half of Thailand's population now lives in cities, and this number is growing along with the risks of heatwaves, flooding, and coastal erosion. In Bangkok, urban heat islands have caused city temperatures to rise by 5.26C over the past 25 years, according to a study by the Asian Institute of Technology and Khon Kaen University in 2020. Chiang Mai, known for its cool climate, now experiences temperatures over 36C in many areas. Another study from Burapha University in 2019 also mentioned that rapid urbanisation and shrinking green spaces have made the eastern region 2.56C hotter over the last decade. As a result, deaths from heat waves have surged. Vulnerable groups, such as outdoor workers, the elderly, and slum dwellers, are hit the hardest, exacerbating Thailand's already distressing inequality. Flooding Flooding is a major issue in Bangkok, with 737 flood hotspots, according to the data from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, worsened by more rainstorms. Floods disrupt daily life, cause traffic gridlock, and damage infrastructure, causing significant economic loss. During rush hours, heavy rain can cause up to 2,000 hours of travel delays daily alone. This number might seem to be small, but the calculation is based on the traffic situation at only 16 major intersections in Bangkok. As Bangkok sinks, rising seas will worsen the problem, while flash floods become more common. Chiang Mai, the largest city in the North, suffered unprecedented flooding this year, highlighting the need for better preparedness and action. Despite the devastation year after year, current flood prevention measures like barriers and drainage systems are short-term fixes. Sustainable solutions require comprehensive river basin management, better water-retention areas, and long-term city planning, including active community involvement. Coastal erosion Rising sea levels and stronger storms have eroded 26% of Thailand's 3,151-kilometre coastline. Over the past 30 years, the country has lost around 100,000 rai of coastal land, with Bangkok's Bang Khun Thian losing 2,735 rai. This erosion threatens cities, communities, ecosystems, and the economy, displacing villages and destroying vital ecosystems like mangroves. Urgent action is needed to protect the coastline. Piecemeal solutions Current efforts to address heatwaves, flooding, and coastal erosion are sadly fragmented and inadequate. As cities grow hotter, the government has done little -- if anything -- to expand green spaces, promote eco-friendly buildings, or invest in long-term solutions. Some measures, like taxing water retention areas as unproductive lands, have made things worse by reducing flood absorption areas. Concrete sea walls, built without comprehensive environmental studies or local input, have also worsened coastal erosion nearby, showing the flaws of relying solely on hard engineering solutions from a top-down policy. Long-term flood prevention is also lacking. Flood walls and drainage upgrades, for example, address the symptoms, not the root causes. Sustainable approaches require ecological planning, sufficient water retention, inclusive city planning and community involvement. Additionally, environmental and social assessments need to be fair, transparent, and participatory, which they are not at present. Global examples Piecemeal solutions do not work. The impacts of climate change are not just environmental -- they are also economic and social crises. What Thailand needs is a cohesive, long-term strategy to make cities climate resilient, and there is much to learn from other countries. After deadly heatwaves in 2022 that claimed 425 lives in Phoenix, US, mainly among the homeless and the elderly -- the city set up a data system to track vulnerable groups and give them easy access to shelters and water stations. It has saved lives and improved emergency responses. Meanwhile, London uses green, environmen- tally friendly buildings through collaboration between local government, the private sector, building owners, and climate experts to tackle rising temperatures. Copenhagen, Denmark, after dealing with repeated heavy rain and flooding, has created dual-purpose parks that act as floodwater reservoirs during storms. The city has also built giant underground tunnels to separate rainwater from sewage, helping improve climate resilience and urban liveability. In China, "sponge cities" are being developed to fight severe flooding. These cities use parks to absorb rainwater, temporary water-retention areas, and roads designed to soak up water and slow runoff. After the 1953 North Sea flood that killed 1,800 people and flooded 9% of the Netherlands, the government used modern sea wall technology to prevent future floods. They also listened to local fishermen's input to adjust the project and improve its effectiveness. Closer to home, Singapore is fighting city heat with better urban planning. This includes improving cooling systems, reducing car use, building eco-friendly structures, and adding more green, open spaces across the city. In Indonesia, Jakarta's flooding problem is being tackled by planting mangroves, clearing garbage to improve water flow, and relocating people from flood-prone areas with community input. These areas are being turned into water-retention zones. Indonesia is also moving its capital from Jakarta to the island of Borneo. International examples offer practical and effective strategies for making cities resilient to climate risks -- valuable lessons for Thailand. To fight heatwaves, cities can add more green spaces, reduce car use, and improve air conditioning systems. Green buildings, like those with rooftop gardens, can also help cool urban areas. For flooding, adding green spaces, improving drainage, and building "sponge cities" that soak up water can reduce damage from heavy rains. To protect coastlines, planting mangroves, restoring natural ecosystems, using innovative engineering, and relocating buildings from high-risk areas are essential steps. These solutions combine nature, smart engineering, and community support to address climate challenges effectively. They can be grouped into four colour-coded strategies. Grey focuses on traditional engineering, green on eco-friendly, natural solutions, blue on water absorption, and white on relocation. Importantly, all these strategies prioritise local knowledge and input, using a participatory process to help residents adapt their habits and behaviours. The solution is simple: reduce car use and improve air conditioning to cut emissions, make buildings eco-friendly, and expand green spaces, water-retention areas, and mangroves. Focus on new ideas and involve local communities. If needed, relocate people from high-risk areas. Adapting cities to climate change begins with understanding the risks, identifying vulnerable groups and dangerous areas, and checking if the city is ready to respond. This means reviewing city infrastructure, working together with all stakeholders, and creating long-term plans for sustainable growth. Cities need strong plans, careful assessments, and smart investments in solutions that tackle multiple climate risks. For Thailand, this means adding more green spaces, turning unused urban land into parks or wetlands with tax incentives, updating old buildings to be eco-friendly, and relocating risky developments with fair compensation and community input. These actions can help our cities prepare for climate change. For sure, adaptation will not be cheap, but the price of doing nothing will be far greater. The time to act is now. Sumet Ongkittikul, PhD, is vice president for internal systems and research director of transportation and logistic policy, and Nuntachart Ratanaburi is a researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). This article is the author's adaptation from his presentation 'Making Cities Resilient to Climate Change' at the 2024 TDRI Annual Public Conference on Oct 30, 2024.

South Carolina middle school bullies who pushed a 12-year-old girl to hang herself visited her later at the ICU and took photos of the victim to mock her on social media, according to a new lawsuit. Kelaia Turner, now 14, suffered more than a year of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of five peers at the Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School in Greenville, her heartbroken family wrote in a lawsuit against the district and nine faculty members who were accused of negligence. Seeing suicide as her only way out, Kelaia hanged herself in 2023 and was dead for eight minutes before paramedics could revive her, with Kelaia suffering severe brain damage and remaining in a coma for weeks. While Kelaia was in the coma, one of the bullies made their way inside the ICU and snapped photos of the intubated girl, posting the pictures on social media and spreading rumors about her injuries, the lawsuit says. Ty Turner, Kelaia’s mother, said she wants justice and is targeting the district for allegedly failing her daughter and allowing the bullying to go unrestrained for a year and a half. “They used to teach us, ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me,’ “ the mom told WFY44. “Unfortunately, words do hurt.” The lawsuit claims the bullying started in 2021 when Kelaia began wearing her natural hair to school, with students calling her “roach” and saying she looked “like a man.” Kelaia’s teacher, Olivia Bennett, allegedly joined in on the mockery and would acknowledge the victim when the bullies would ask her, “Where’s the roach?” Along with regularly insulting Kelaia and pushing her, one of the bullies verbally assaulted her when they found out her parents spoke to school officials about the torment and planned to move her to another class. Things only escalated in 2022 when Kelaia got into a fight with one of the bullies, with school officials opting to suspend her but not her tormentor, according to the lawsuit. On May 23, 2022, Kelaia’s parents said, students targeted their daughter by playing an offensive YouTube video called “The Black People Song,” which teacher John Teer allegedly allowed to be played aloud without reprimand over the video’s racist nature. Later that year, the bullies went on to pour water on Kelaia’s clothes and then threw them in the trash, the lawsuit states. Through all this, the stricken child’s parents allege that the district failed to take any meaningful action to stop the torment, with Kelaia opting to hang herself with a belt in her bedroom on March 17, 2023. “She was cool to the touch, blood was coming out of her nose,” her mother recalled of her daughter’s limp body afterward. “She had fully committed to what it was that she was attempting to do, and she was gone for 8 whole minutes.” Kelaia ended up suffering severe brain damage and has been left with no control over her body. The lawsuit, which was filed in November, seeks damages from the district and faculty members to cover Kelaia’s medical bills, psychiatric expenses, special education, parents’ lost wages while taking care of her, life care expenses, disability care, injury to her psyche and emotional state and loss of enjoyment of life. Greenville County Schools has denied the allegations and claims its staff takes the appropriate steps when dealing with bullying incidents. “We disagree with these allegations and have conducted a thorough investigation and review of each allegation at the time they were made,” the district said in a statement. “While we do not agree with the allegations, our hearts go out to Kelaia Tecora Turner, her mother, and their family,” officials added. As of Tuesday morning, a GoFundMe to help support Kelaia raised more than $15,000. If you or anyone you know needs help: Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800 Lifeline – 13 11 14 Beyond Blue – 1300 22 4636 Originally published as Bullies sneak into ICU to snap photos of South Carolina teen Kelaia Turner who they drove to hang herself: lawsuit

Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said Tuesday that he is entering the NFL Draft. Later in the day, a school spokesman told reporters that Armstrong will skip the Razorbacks' bowl game. The destination isn't yet known. Armstrong led the Southeastern Conference in both receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,140) but caught just one touchdown in 11 games this season. His catches and yardage were both second-most in Arkansas history behind Cobi Hamilton, who had 90 receptions for 1,335 yards in 2012. "It's been a journey for the books and I wouldn't trade it for anything because it has made me into the man I am today," Armstrong said of his Razorbacks tenure in a social media post. "... I will never forget all the moments that were shared here in Fayetteville." Armstrong played two seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce before transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2023 season. In two seasons with the Razorbacks, he caught 134 passes for 1,904 yards and six scores. --Field Level MediaUS Army plans new missile for autonomous launchers to targets beyond 620 miles

Customs warns public of fake auction video