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'A hauntingly real tragedy': Why Austin Ghost tours says national franchises are putting business at risk

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)— As the spookiness descends upon Austin, small local business,  Austin Ghost tours said it is struggling. With Halloween on the horizon, this is a time when it should be booming. The owner of Austin Ghost Tours, Jeanine Plumer, said she and others in her line of work are living a real life scary story. "What has happened is the concept of the local ghost tour has become a national franchise," Plumer said...they spend a ton of money advertising, but the thing that they're doing is using our name...nobody cares."This spooky tale is nearly identical in at least three other cities: Forth Worth and Galveston, as well as Washington, D.C. "With these national chains...I'll get phone calls from people confusing my company with theirs," Gin Keel, owner of Spooky Galveston and Ghost Tours of Galveston said. David Besgrove, Cow Town Winery in the Fort Worth Stockyards. He said they do ghost tours in the stockyards there weekly and has also noticed an increasing problem with ...

Twins bullpen looks dominant. That means this team could be dangerous.

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Jhoan Duran uncorked a 101 mph fastball on Wednesday night at Target Field. It whistled into the glove of Ryan Jeffers behind the plate, and the celebration was on. The drought of more than 20 years without winning a playoff series was officially over as the Twins put the finishing touches on a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Target Field.The fact that it came to an end with a big strikeout from Duran was only right considering how dominant the Twins’ bullpen was over throughout the American League Wild Card Series.As special as rookie sensation Royce Lewis and ace Pablo Lopez were in Game 1, and star shortstop Carlos Correa and ace Sonny Gray were in Game 2, everything might have played out differently for the Twins if it weren’t for their bullpen. The collection of relievers for the Twins literally did not give up a run in 7 1/3 innings of work.“They just came in and closed the curtain on the series,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. &#...

John Shipley: Don’t sleep on Carlos Correa

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

As Game 2 of the Wild Card Series between Minnesota and Toronto wound down on Wednesday, a reporter who shall remain nameless mentioned to a Twins employee that the last time the Twins won a playoff series, he was painting the bedroom for his first-born toddler.That child is now 23 years old.“Let’s talk about that after the game,” the employee said somewhat, uh, tersely.Yes, there were some tight muscles in the press box and elsewhere in Target Field this week as longtime Twins watchers waited for the other shoe to drop. Eighteen consecutive playoff losses, some from pretty darn good teams, will do that to you. On the diamond, though, it was loose.The Twins themselves played as if they expected to win and dispatched the Blue Jays in two games, punching their American League Division Series ticket with a crisp, 2-0 victory in front of 38,518 ecstatic fans.It started a little rough when third baseman Jorge Polanco shorted a throw to first base for an error on the series’ first play. B...

Ellison’s office to host meeting on proposed twin mergers of Duluth/Wisconsin health systems

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

The Minnesota attorney general’s office will host a hearing on the proposed separate mergers of two Duluth-based health care systems with Wisconsin-based systems.The public can weigh in on the proposed mergers between Essentia Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System and between St. Luke’s and Aspirus Health at an Oct. 25 meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Duluth Kirby Center’s Rafters Room.The public can also comment on the mergers online or by calling 651-296-3353 (metro area) or 800-657-3787 (greater Minnesota).The office, led by Attorney General Keith Ellison, was given additional authority under the state’s new health care entity transaction law to consider whether a health care transaction is in the public interest. If he determines that it is not, he can seek court intervention.“Every Minnesotan deserves high-quality health care that they can afford, access and depend on, and every Minnesotan deserves the opportunity to provide input on health care t...

Campbell featured as one of News Media Canada’s “Champions”

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Trevor BuschSunny South [email protected] Sunny South News publisher Coleen Campbell has stepped back from the media industry enjoying a well-deserved semi-retirement, but her more than four decades serving newspapers in Western Canada are never far removed from her mind.“We enjoyed that adrenaline with deadlines and complicated stories and everything else. It was challenging for sure. But that’s enjoyable.”To celebrate National Newspaper Week (Oct. 1-7), News Media Canada has launched a new digital book, “Champions”, and Campbell is featured as one of the 24 industry moguls detailed in the publication.Campbell recently sat down for an interview with Southern Alberta Newspapers, and you can still sense the rising tide of enthusiasm in her voice as she hearkens back to those early days starting out as a cub reporter for The Taber Times.   “I started in Taber, I got my journalism diploma at SAIT and started right off the bat and stayed there for a long, long time R...

News Media Canada celebrating industry mavericks in “Champions”

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Trevor BuschSunny South [email protected] celebration of National Newspaper Week (Oct. 1-7), News Media Canada has launched a new digital book, “Champions”, highlighting outstanding individuals throughout Canada’s media landscape that help advance the flag of truth.The limited-edition bilingual publication launched this week and features 24 inspirational stories focused on notable Canadians from the news media industry. Those singled out are a diverse collection of hardworking individuals who have shown their commitment to championing the truth by providing people in Canada with trustworthy, accurate news to keep them informed and communities connected.“So we’ve been involved with producing our National Newspaper Week programmes since 2018. Now this is the 83rd National Newspaper Week, so it’s not new. And we really decided back in 2018 to make it a much larger project and try to get newspapers across the country involved in celebrating and raising the awareness on the ...

Budget meetings scheduled for fall 2023

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsCoaldale council has begun deliberations for next year, with the dates for the remaining meetings for 2023 tentatively scheduled for this fall/winter.Kicking off the process, the Town held a special council meeting on Sept. 20 to discuss budget meetings over the next few months.In addition to the regularly scheduled regular council meetings, special council meetings have been scheduled for  Nov. 1, Nov. 15 and Nov. 30.The purpose of the Sept. 20 meeting was to review current municipal service levels and refresh council with foundational knowledge pertaining to the budget process which they will use to guide their decisions during the deliberations. As well, the early overview provided Council with an opportunity to discuss desired levels of service in Coaldale across each of the six budget departments.The first of the budget presentations was presented by Town of Coaldale’s Chief Financial Officer, (CFO) Kyle Beauchamp, who also presented a quarterly ...

Former Coaldale student receives ATB Financial Canadian Masters Scholarship

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsA former student of Kate Andrews High School, Sarah Peters is the recipient of the 2023 ATB Financial Canadian Masters Scholarship.The scholarship, established in 2014, is presented annually to a curler and first-year post-secondary student from the southern Alberta region attending an accredited post-secondary program. In 2014, Coaldale hosted the Canadian Masters Curling Tournament. At the time, ATB Financial stepped up as a major sponsor for the event, and donated $10,000 to help plan and get the Canadians Masters underway.Roger Hohm served as a co-chair of the 2014 Masters and said the committee and ATB came to an agreement that if the event was profitable, a portion of the profit would then be carved out into a scholarship fund geared toward assisting community-minded student-curlers with post-secondary funding in the coming years.Hohm said while academics is a factor in choosing a recipient of the scholarship, the selection committee is looking ...

Southern Accord chorus celebrates 25 years of harmony

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsThe Southern Accord Chorus is celebrating 25 years of music magic.In celebration of the significant milestone, the local women’s a cappella chorus is gearing up for their upcoming event, “Harmony Connections- Celebrating 25 years with Our Community.”The event will take place in Lethbridge on Sat. Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the College Drive Community Church, just 10 minutes from their long-time rehearsal space in Lethbridge County at the McNally Community Centre.The organization is currently home to 28 members, many of whom travel from Vauxhall, and even as far as Milk River, in order to attend the in-person rehearsals.In 2022, Southern Accord received two medals at the Region 26 Sweet Adelines virtual contest, placing in third for small choruses and fifth out of all chorus sizes in Western Canada. In addition to hearing the musical stylings of Southern Accord, attendees will get to experience the rhythm and music of the U of L Global Drums, who will be joi...

Rural and Indigenous sites to play vital role in growing tourism industry in Alberta

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsContinued efforts and funding into rural and Indigenous tourist destinations and experiences continue to be a prioritize for the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Joseph Schow.In a recent release recognizing World Tourism Day on Sept. 27, Minister Schow said rural and Indigenous destinations will continue to play a critical role in building the tourism industry, and continues to be a key focus of Travel Alberta’s in distributing funding supports to build capacity in those areas.“There is so much potential in rural tourism, agri-tourism, and Indigenous tourism, which benefits people from across the province,” through the creation of jobs and careers in tourism.Included in this is also Alberta’s growing agri-tourism sector, which leverages the province’s unique agricultural identity and production sites as a selling point in marketing Alberta as a premier travel destination. The “essential component(s)” of rural and Indigenous tourism are expected to conti...