Meet First Canadian Woman to Win a NASCAR Race

Amber Balcaen, 24, the 1st Canadian-born woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States.(shorttrack247)

Whether it's the tracks in Manitoba or a NASCAR race, Amber Balcaen has a need for speed.

The 24-year-old dirt racer from Winnipeg made history this weekend becoming the first Canadian-born woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States.

"It has sunk in and it hasn't. I've been smiling for the last two days and I'll be smiling all week," Balcaen said on Sunday.

"This is something I dreamed of, and I believed that I could achieve it and make it happen. For it to actually become a reality and for me to pull off the win was really a dream come true."

Balcaen took the title on Saturday in the seven-car Limited Sportsman Field during the NASACR Whelen All-American Series. This means Balcaen is in the first level of NASCAR, and she said her plans are to make it to the top of the five tiers.

Canadian Police Force RCMP Shoot Dead Terror Suspect During an Anti-terror Operation

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) today shot dead a suspect in an anti-terror operation in the Canadian province of Ontario, according to several media reports.

Canadian media reports say police had raided a property in Strathroy, about 225km (140 miles) south-west of Toronto and the 'terrorist suspect' named  as Aaron Driver, 24,  was arrested last year for openly supporting ISIS on social media.

RCMP said in a statement  it had received "credible information of a potential terrorist threat".
"A suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public's safety," it added.

Dallas Cowboys Now Most Valuable Sport Team, Check Out Top 50

NFL team Dallas Cowboys are now the most valuable sports team in the World according to Forbes annual list of most Valuable sports franchises released this week. This is the first time since Forbes began compiling their annual top 50 lists of the most valuable sports teams in the world, that a non-football team will be topping it's list. Manchester United held the crown of most valuable in 2011 and 2012, and Real Madrid did so the last three years, but on this occasion American football outfit Dallas Cowboys rank first with a value of $4billion (£3.31bn), up 25%.

Real Madrid's fall from top of the list comes despite a value of $3.65bn (£2.76bn) and a 12% increase in value from last year, when they featured at the summit of the list. Real Madrid stocked with a pantheon of stars led by the world's highest-paid athlete Cristiano Ronaldo, tops a group of eight football clubs on the list. NFL franchises make up 27 of the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world in 2016's rankings, with Real Madrid down to second, Barcelona in third (having been fourth in 2015), and Man United staying in fifth.

University of Waterloo boosts salaries of female faculty by $3K after 'systemic' discrepancy found

An Ontario university is the latest to bump the salaries of its female faculty members after discovering they were being paid thousands of dollars less than their male coworkers, but one professor says steps must be taken to prevent — not just rectify — such biases in academia.
In a memo emailed to faculty Wednesday and obtained by The Canadian Press, the University of Waterloo said a working group tasked with analyzing faculty salaries uncovered a "systemic gender anomaly" that was "consistent across the university."

As a result, it said an adjustment of $2,905 will be made on Sept. 1 to the salaries of all female faculty members who were in the faculty association's bargaining unit as of April 30 of last year.
However, the working group said in its report that the increases will not be applied retroactively.
Aimee Morrison, an associate professor at the university and associate chair of graduate studies, says this type of inequity is a problem across academia "and probably all fields."

While it's great that the university is willing to address the problem, "I don't see a bigger conversation happening in really pointed ways about how does this keep happening," she said.

Sad Ending As Jewelry Mega Chain Ben Moss Closes Door Across The Country

After more than a century in business, Winnipeg-based jewelry chain Ben Moss Jewellers is closing its doors.

Going-out-of-business sales were announced at all 54 Ben Moss locations in Canada in a news release from Gordon Brothers Group on Friday. The sales began on Saturday.

In May the company announced that it was restructuring its operations after receiving creditor protection. Liquidation sales have already begun at 11 underperforming stores across the country.