Appliance Repair in Hume, CA

Forward Iain Hume, whose soccer career took him from England to India with 43 Canadian caps along the way, has officially confirmed his retirement.

The 39-year-old's last club was India's FC Pune City, which he left in June 2019. More recently he has served as a TV analyst for OneSoccer and as head coach of Woodstock FC.

He did not officially call it quits as a player, however, until this week in a social media post.

Born in Edinburgh to Scottish parents, Hume came to Canada when he was one. Growing up in Brampton, Ont., he left for England as a teenager to pursue his soccer dream. He worked his way through the youth ranks at Tranmere Rovers, becoming the English club's youngest ever player at 16 years, 167 days in an April 2000 game against Swindon.

In 2003, he helped lead Canada on a fairy-tale run to the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates where he, along with midfielder Atiba Hutchinson, was named to the tournament all-star team.

A 500,000-pound ($783,655) move took him to Leicester City in 2005 before stops in Barnsley and Preston North End and loan spells with Doncaster Rovers and Fleetwood Town.

He went on to play in Spain for SD Ponferradina and Extremadura UD and in India for Kerala Blasters FC, ATK and FC Pune City.

He first heard of the Indian League from a freelance journalist who passed on a contact. Hume gave the number to his agent, not thinking anything would come from it, and within two weeks he had been drafted by Kerala.

Hume made headlines playing for Barnsley in November 2008, when he was caught by an elbow from Sheffield United's Chris Morgan as both went for a high ball.

Hume was substituted after the collision and was sent home with what the club thought was a concussion. The next day, however, he was talking gibberish and his family took him to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for internal bleeding and a fractured skull.

There was a long recovery period, leaving Hume with a horseshoe-shaped scar from his left ear to the front of his forehead.

He missed the rest of the 2008-09 season and saw little action in the 2009-10 campaign but eventually returned to action and found a new lease of life in soccer.

Hume announced his retirement 14 years to the day after the incident.

"Four years ago today, my life changed. Fortunately, it didn’t end," he wrote. "My amazing family and friends kept me going when things were at their lowest and for that I’m forever grateful. I love you all for being there for me, and I wouldn’t have continued doing what I loved for as long as I did, if it wasn’t for all of you.

"Now that the playing side of my life has ended, I’m now fortunate enough to have moved on to the next chapter," he added.

Just five foot seven, Hume was a bundle of energy on the field, showing his patriotism at times by having the Maple Leaf dyed into his hair.

He was offered the chance to try out for the Scottish under-17 team but chose Canada and went on to make 43 international “A” appearances from 2003 to 2016.

He came off the bench in October 2012 in San Pedro Sula to score Canada's lone goal in an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of Honduras that ended Canada's World Cup qualifying run.

He represented Canada in three cycles of World Cup qualifying and at three Gold Cups.

Hume played more than 600 competitive matches and scored more than 140 goals across both his professional and international career, including 54 goals in 204 career matches in England’s Championship and another 33 goals in 125 career matches in England’s League One.

He scored another 25 goals in 62 career matches in the Indian Super League, winning the 2014 Best Player award and the 2016 Indian Super League Championship. He scored his last competitive goal March 2, 2019, for FC Pune City.

Hume earned his UEFA B Diploma Coaching Award from the Welsh FA in 2020. He plans to enrol in the Canada Soccer Coaching Program in the coming year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2022.

Kelowna RCMP have opened an investigation into alleged misconduct within Okanagan HC, a private hockey school in West Kelowna.

RCMP did not specify the nature of the allegation or who is being investigated. They did say in a statement that the Kelowna Vulnerable Persons Section is leading the investigation, which involves individuals under the age of 18.

CBC has confirmed the investigation is related to complaints from a father who claims his son, along with others, were subjected to alleged harassing behaviour.

The father said he withdrew his son from Okanagan HC after complaints filed with the club and owner Rod Hume were ignored.

"I repeatedly requested to meet with him and have an action plan about how he was going to keep my kid safe ... and he refused to do that," said the man.

CBC requested an interview with Hume on Thursday, a day before the RCMP announced the investigation. Hume responded with an emailed statement that reads in part:

"We are taking the complaint seriously and, in consultation with the Junior Prospects Hockey League, we are hiring an independent legal firm to conduct an independent investigation ... Any contraventions of our Discipline and Code of Conduct Policy will be addressed by the terms set out in the policy, up to and including the suspension or dismissal of a player."

CBC reached out to Okanagan HC for comment after Kelowna RCMP opened the investigation and was told in an email to refer to another statement from Hume.

"While the Okanagan Hockey Club has not been contacted by the RCMP, we will fully co-operate with any investigation," reads the statement.

"We do not condone any form of bullying or harassment and recognize the importance of creating a culture that is conducive to learning and development in a safe environment for all players."

Okanagan HC is one of 10 clubs in the newly formed Junior Prospects Hockey League (JPHL), which operates divisions in under-14, under-15 and under-18 age groups.

The JPHL is not sanctioned, meaning it operates outside of B.C. Hockey and Hockey Canada rules, regulations and oversight.

The league is the property of Alberta-based company Silent Ice Sports and Entertainment. Former NHLer Ryan Smyth is listed as one of four executive directors on the Silent Ice website.

On Oct. 31, the JPHL posted a statement on Twitter saying it was aware of an unnamed team that was the subject of alleged JPHL code of conduct violations.

"We will not sit idle to these concerns and are undertaking a rigorous and detailed investigation. We will comment once we have concluded our findings," it reads.

A black swan from Lake San Marcos tested positive by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

SAN DIEGO — A positive case of the bird flu is now confirmed in San Diego County according to the San Diego Humane Society.

A black swan from Lake San Marcos tested positive by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The virus, highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, affects birds’ respiratory and neurological systems.

According to the USDA, across the country, 47.3 million birds have been affected and there’s a total of more than 626,000 outbreaks in California.

News of this prompted Sea World San Diego to halt its bird rescue work and the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife to take extra precautions as they treat sick or injured birds.

Last weekend, the non-profit group Clean Earth 4 Kids gathered around Lake San Marcos after swans and birds started rapidly dying.

"A tragedy that all San Diego needs to be concerned about," said Yusef Miller, who is representing Clean Earth 4 Kids in North County and the San Diego NAACP committee.

"They’ve been dying at an alarming rate. We lost 10 birds in 48 hours. I've dragged the bodies and watch them die the last few days," said San Marcos resident, Amber Lindsey.

However, this group believes it's due to toxic pesticides sprayed on the grass, not the bird flu.

"It's heartbreaking to see dying birds around us. We were heartbroken that toxic pesticides were used here," said Suzanne Hume, Educational Director Founder of Clean Earth 4 Kids.

Greg Thomas with Lake San Marcos Wildlife Rescue sent a few swans to U.C. Davis to have them tested. He is still waiting on results.

"It is poisoning. I don’t know if it's pesticides, but this happened the day after they sprayed. I can't count how many we have dying and are dying as we speak. The bird flu hasn’t reached yet and it cant be used as a scapegoat," said Thomas.

Currently, the Center for Disease Control says the possibility of a person catching symptoms of the bird flu is very low.

Right now, there isn't a vaccine available for humans.

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People across eastern Ontario are hoping they've seen the end of an invasion of ladybug lookalikes

The Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, which closely resembles a ladybug, spends its summer dining on hundreds of soft insects, or aphids, in corn and soybeans crops until the harvest.

That's when temperatures begin to drop, causing widespread panic in the beetle population that leads to their eviction. This year, though, there was a hot lady beetle summer.

"They had a good year, there was no drought and there were lots of aphids," said Hume Douglas, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

"At the end of this good year, they don't want to die. They want to survive the winter by getting somewhere sheltered."

Fittingly, for an insect that has also been called the "Halloween Beetle," the lady beetle can wear many costumes yellow to red to black, and can have anywhere from zero to 20 spots.

Hume said the only sure way to distinguish the insect from a ladybug is to look for a white "W" or "M" on the pronotum, the area on the insect's back just behind the head.

Trying to absorb heat on surfaces

This month, orange clouds of Asian lady beetles have clustered in the hundreds on white surfaces and windows in an attempt to absorb the unseasonal heat.

"It's spectacularly bad," said Natalie Rowe at Bee Meadow animal rescue Farm in Apple Hill, Ont., about an hour southeast of Ottawa.

At one point this month a "snowstorm" of beetles drove the farmer back indoors where she found orange bodies turning up in both the tea kettle and the coffee maker.

"I was reading in bed last night, one was climbing across my glasses, then one was in my teacup," said Rowe, whose vacuum cleaner has been her main weapon of defence during the siege.

Natalie Rowe, who owns an animal rescue farm in Apple Hill, Ont. described a “snowstorm” of the aphid-eating ladybug imposters in late September. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Hume Douglas said conditions this year were optimal for the pests.

At Julie Clement's home in the Kars community of rural southeast Ottawa, she has had to "vacuum hundreds out of the light shades from last year."

"They're a pest," she said.

No disease or reproduction concerns

On the plus side, the insects don't carry disease and while they might pack into gaps behind walls, they will not reproduce in your home.

On the negative side, they can stink when treated inhospitably. The unwanted guests have a ghastly trick of defensively bleeding their vital hemolymph or blood, which can be mildly poisonous and foul-smelling, and can stain.

"That's how they can get away with crawling around on plants and being bright orange in the middle of the day," said Douglas.

Unlike ladybugs, the Asian lady beetle will also bite.

"They're not terrible, but you can certainly feel it. It feels like a sting," said Rowe.

Lady beetles need temperatures above 10 C to survive, which means they will soon disappear as quickly as they arrived.

With files from Celeste Decaire

Bad bounces and blocked shots botched the Bombers' try for a sixth-straight win Friday night, with Yorkton claiming a 3-1 win.

Flin Flon would generate plenty of chances, but the visitors drew first blood, with Brett Butz getting wide open in the high slot and beating Harmon Laser-Hume clean with a wrister. The Bombers would have plenty of opportunities, putting up 15 shots in the first to Yorkton's seven, but the Terriers escaped the frame with a 1-0 lead.

That lead wouldn't last. Midway through the second, Flin Flon would break into the zone on a three-on-two rush. Alexi Sylvestre dangled out Yorkton goalie Caleb Allan, but couldn't convert - that's where Jaxon Martens came in, putting the loose puck into the goal, tying the game.

Both teams had great chances go by the wayside. A three-on-two for Yorkton would end with a player beating Laser-Hume, but not the crossbar - the Bombers, on the other hand, got three powerplays in the period and flopped on all three. Both teams were tied 1-1 entering the third.

The Bombers buzzed the Yorkton net throughout the third, generating chance after chance, but Allan and the Terriers' defence stood tall. While Yorkton's offence generated few chances, they converted when it mattered most - with two minutes to go, a high, looping pass over the neutral zone by Terrier Dylan Ruptash landed in front of Greg Nelson, who beat out two Bomber backcheckers, went on a breakaway and put it through Laser-Hume's five-hole, putting the Terriers ahead late.

Laser-Hume would be pulled soon after, but the Bombers immediately took a penalty, nullifying the man advantage and kneecapping their comeback hopes. With a man down, Clay Sleeva put the final nail in the Bombers' coffin, scoring on Laser-Hume - who stayed in the Bomber net late - after a Bomber turnover down low with 15 seconds to go.

The shots on goal heavily went Flin Flon's way, outshooting the Terriers 49-20, but the score didn't follow the same trend. Laser-Hume had a 17 save showing for Flin Flon, taking the L, while Allan stopped 48 shots on the night.

The loss ends Flin Flon's five-game winning streak and keeps the Bombers tied for second overall in the league, tied with Humboldt with a game in hand with 28 points. The Bombers are still atop the Sherwood division standings, but are being caught up on by La Ronge, who took down first-place Battlefords in overtime Friday and move to just one point back of the Bombers for the division lead.

Flin Flon will get a boost next week, as Cole Duperreault's two-game suspension is now over. He and the Bombers will be back in action in Nipawin for a road game Nov. 15, then will face the juggernaut Battlefords North Stars on the road Nov. 18-19.