Experts weigh in on COVID-19 concerns about food pickup and delivery

All-Japan committee meets to promote Sapporo Olympic bid

TOKYO (AP) — Yasuhiro Yamashita, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee, acknowledged the biggest stumbling block to holding the Olympics is the billions in costs.

However, in another breath on Tuesday at a so-called “All Japan” meeting to promote Sapporo's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, he said that if the northern Japanese city lands the Games, little new construction will be needed — a major expense for every Olympics.

“From both inside and outside our country, there are many views about hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Yamashista said, among politicians and business leaders online — and in Sapporo — talking up the bid. “I realize there are also concerns about the huge costs involved.”

The official cost for last year's delayed Tokyo Olympics was $13.6 billion, although government audits suggest it may have been much more. At least 60% was public money.

Alex Jones concedes Sandy Hook attack was ‘100% real’

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — For years, bombastic far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ranted to his millions of followers that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, that children weren’t killed and that parents were crisis actors in an elaborate ruse to force gun control.

Under oath and facing a jury that could hit him with $150 million or more in damages for his false claims, Jones said Wednesday he now realizes that was irresponsible and believes that what happened in the deadliest school shooting in American history was “100% real.”

Jones’ public contrition came on the final day of testimony in a two-week defamation lawsuit against him and his Austin-based media company, Free Speech Systems, brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. Their son was a first grader who was among the 20 students and six teachers killed at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

“I unintentionally took part in things that did hurt these people’s feelings,” said Jones, who also acknowledged raising conspiracy claims about other mass tragedies, from the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings to the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida, “and I’m sorry for that.”

Norway's Ruud wins Olympic gold year after father's death

The decorated alpine athlete was disqualified from her first two races in Beijing, but still has plenty of events to come.

City, province, Ottawa strike task force to battle meth

The city, province and federal governments are teaming up to create a tri-level task force that will fight distribution of illicit drugs and address the root causes of the province's meth crisis.

"As far as we know, this is the first collaborative initiative like this in the country and it’s something that I’m very proud to be a part of," said Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, who had been calling for such a task force (with unanimous council support) since September. 

In interviews last week, officials from the three levels of government told the Free Press they hadn't yet met in the same room to discuss the surge in meth-related problems.

By Tuesday, it seems they managed to clear their schedules.