News
Former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice Dies in B.C. Plane Crash
Former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice has reportedly died in a small plane crash near Kelowna, B.C. The Canadian Press is reporting that the Transportation Safety Board has confirmed there were four people on board the Cessna Citation that went down around 10:30pm October 13th, northeast of Winfield, about 18 kilometres north of Kelowna.
RCMP say the plane went down shortly after its takeoff from the Kelowna International Airport, destined for Calgary.
Mounties say they were alerted to the situation when the private, business-style jet lost contact with radar. They eventually found the crash site approximately 4 km into a heavily wooded area north of Beaver Lake Road east of Lake Country. RCMP will continue to secure the crash site while awaiting the arrival of the Transportation Safety Board which has already deployed a team of investigators.
Locally a number of friends and supporters are mourning.
Former Red Deer South Conservative MLA and Cabinet Minister Cal Dallas says he is “devastated and saddened” by the news, adding his heart goes out to Prentice’s family. Dallas says “We’ve lost a great Albertan, we’re not the same place today as we were yesterday”. Dallas says Prentice provided his public service to both Albertans and Canadians and he “will miss the impact Prentice had on our lives”. Dallas says Prentice applied a lot of reflection, experience and intellect into everything he did and had a very methodical and team approach to his endeavours.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer released a statement on the shocking news. “On behalf of Red Deerians, I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to family, friends, fellow Albertans and Canadians mourning the tragic and unexpected loss of former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice,”.
“Former Premier Prentice dedicated much of his life to public service, serving with intelligence, integrity, experience, and passion for issues such as Aboriginal affairs, energy, and the environment but above all leaving us with a profound sense of loss.”
“We have lost a friend and loyal advocate for Alberta and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and closest friends at this difficult time,” said Veer.
Lacombe Mayor Steve Christie also released a statement on Friday: “On behalf of City Council, I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Jim Prentice, former Alberta premier and a former federal cabinet minister. Mr. Prentice was a widely respected public servant who served both Alberta and Canada with honour and respect. He will be missed. The residents of Lacombe join all Albertans and Canadians in offering our most sincere condolences to his wife Karen and his family at this difficult time.”
As for the identities of those on board the aircraft, RCMP Corporal Dan Moskaluk says “Our priority is to first share information with the families of those individuals killed in this tragic crash. Following confirmation that next of kin have been notified, information about the identities of those on board may be released publically.”
Jim Prentice was 60 years old and leaves behind a wife and three children. This June, he became an energy adviser with Warburg Pincus, an international private equity firm.
Media
Top Five Huge Stories the Media Buried This Week

NEERA TANDEN: “The military requires accountability. It’s the most accountable organization. You are supposed to be accountable to higher-ups. Politics isn’t supposed to have to do with any of this, and the fact that that’s happening, that they’re just basically saying nothing to do here, is a big problem, I think, for those who believe in accountability.”
@ScottJenningsKY: “I think Republicans aren’t interested in any lectures on accountability in the military after the Biden administration. I mean, the bar for getting rid of a Secretary of Defense is apparently pretty high. You can get 13 people killed and go AWOL and not tell the commander in chief, and that’s not a fireable offense.”
“But these lectures about accountability and national security after letting 10 million people into the country who raped and murdered and committed violent acts and no remorse or accountability.”
NEERA TANDEN: “What are you talking about? They closed the border.”
#4 – Bill Gates says we won’t need humans “for most things.”
During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon asked Gates a pretty direct question: “Will we still need humans?”
Gates responded, “Not for most things. We’ll decide … There will be some things that we reserve for ourselves, but in terms of making things and moving things and growing food, over time those will be basically solved problems.”
VIDEO: @TheChiefNerd
REP JORDAN: “Is NPR biased?”
MAHER: “I have never seen any political bias.”
JORDAN: “In the DC area, editorial positions at NPR have 87 registered Democrats and 0 Republicans.”
MAHER: “We do not track the voter registration, but I find that concerning.”
JORDAN: “87-0 and you’re not biased?”
MAHER: “I think that is concerning if those numbers are accurate.”
JORDAN: “October 2020, the NYPost had the Hunter Biden laptop story, and one of those 87 Democrat editors said, ‘We don’t want to waste our readers and listeners’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.’ Was that story a pure distraction?”
Video + Transcript via @Kanekoathegreat
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#2 – Utah becomes the first state to officially BAN fluoride in all public drinking water.
For decades, fluoride was accepted as a safe way to prevent tooth decay. Few questioned it.
But last year, in a dramatic legal twist, a federal judge ruled that fluoride may actually lower children’s IQ—and cited evidence that could upend everything we thought we knew.
That ruling sent shockwaves through the public health world.
Judge Edward Chen pointed to scientific studies showing a “high level of certainty” that fluoride exposure “poses a risk” to developing brains.
He ordered the EPA to reexamine its safety standards, warning that the margin for safety may be far too narrow.
At the center of the case: dozens of peer-reviewed studies linking everyday fluoride exposure—even at levels found in U.S. tap water—to reduced intellectual capacity in children.
It wasn’t just one paper. The National Toxicology Program, a branch of the U.S. government, also concluded that higher fluoride levels were “consistently associated” with lower IQ in kids.
They flagged 1.5 mg/L as a risk threshold. Some communities hover right near it.
In response to the growing evidence, Utah passed HB 81, banning all fluoride additives in public water.
The law takes effect May 7. It doesn’t ban fluoride completely. Anyone who wants it can still get it—like any other prescription.
And that’s the point: Utah’s lawmakers say this is about informed consent and personal choice.
This issue is no longer on the fringe. Across the country, cities and towns are quietly rethinking water fluoridation—and some have already pulled out. Utah is the first state to take bold action. It may not be the last.
The conversation surrounding fluoride has shifted from “Is it helpful?” to “Is it safe?” And for the first time in nearly a century, that question is being taken seriously.
VIDEO: @TheChiefNerd
#1 – RFK Jr. Drops Stunning Vaccine Announcement
Kennedy revealed that the CDC is creating a new sub-agency focused entirely on vaccine injuries—a long-overdue shift for patients who’ve spent years searching for answers without any support from the government.
“We’re incorporating an agency within CDC that is going to specialize in vaccine injuries,” Kennedy announced.
“These are priorities for the American people. More and more people are suffering from these injuries, and we are committed to having gold-standard science make sure that we can figure out what the treatments are and that we can deliver the best treatments possible to the American people.”
For years, the vaccine-injured have felt ignored or dismissed, as public health agencies refused to even acknowledge the problem. Now, there’s finally an initiative underway to investigate their injuries and to provide support.
Thanks for reading! This weekly roundup takes time and care to put together—and I do my best to make it your go-to source for the stories that matter most but rarely get the attention they deserve.
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International
‘Lot Of Nonsense’: Kari Lake Announces Voice Of America Is Dumping Legacy Outlets

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hailey Gomez
Special Adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Kari Lake announced Friday that Voice of America (VOA) will terminate its contracts with The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
VOA, an international broadcasting state media network, is funded by USAGM, with former President Joe Biden requesting in March 2024 a budget increase for the 2025 fiscal year to further support the radio network. In an X post on Friday, Lake announced USAGM will end its “expensive and unnecessary newswire contracts,” adding that some of the major agreements included “tens-of-millions of dollars in contracts” with AP News, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
“USAGM is an American taxpayer funded News Organization with an 83-year history. We should not be paying outside news companies to tell us what the news is—with nearly a billion-dollar budget, we should be producing news ourselves,” Lake wrote. “And if that’s not possible, the American taxpayer should demand to know why.”
During a meeting with VOA staffers Friday, employees were reportedly told to “stop using wire service material for their reports,” according to Newsmax. Notably, audio, video, and text reports have often been used to supplement coverage from locations where reporters are not present, the outlet reported.
In an interview with Newsmax prior to the official contract cuts, Lake discussed how the agency was finding “a lot of nonsense that the American taxpayer shouldn’t be paying for.”
“Today, I started the process of terminating the agency’s contracts with the Associated Press, Reuters, & the Agence France-Presse. This will save taxpayers about 53 million dollars. The purpose of our agency is to tell the American story. We don’t need to outsource that responsibility to anyone else,” Lake wrote in an X post regarding the interview.
Disputes between The AP and the White House began in February after the corporate media outlet was revoked press access for refusing to call the Gulf of America by its new name. The AP filed a lawsuit on Feb. 21 against White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich for injunctive relief.
Lake was sworn in as USAGM’s special adviser on March 3, saying she’s “looking forward” to serving America and “streamlining” the agency. The cuts from the agency follow President Donald Trump’s push for his second administration to review the government’s wasteful spending.
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