Major junior hockey may be forced to confront some dark moments in its history in a class-action lawsuit.

Former NHL and Sarnia Sting player Daniel Carcillo is spearheading the lawsuit against the Canadian Hockey League and its member teams on behalf of players who allege abuse while playing major junior hockey.

Carcillo, who played in the Ontario Hockey League between 2002-05, and Garrett Taylor, who played in the Western Hockey League from 2008-10, filed a statement of claim June 18 with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The CHL and its three member organizations — the WHL, OHL and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — are listed as defendants, as are all 60 teams.

A statement from Koskie Minsky LLP, the law firm representing Carcillo and Taylor, said the action “is on behalf of children aged 15-17 who were sexually and physically assaulted, hazed and otherwise abused while away from home and playing for CHL teams.”

The allegations haven’t been proven in court.

The claim was filed the same week former Kitchener Rangers player Eric Guest told The Hockey News as a rookie he was forced by an older teammate to use cocaine at a party. Guest said he never told anyone in the Rangers’ organization.

On Friday, the CHL announced it will form an independent panel to review league policies and practices related to hazing, abuse, harassment and bullying and the allegation players don’t feel comfortable reporting behaviours that contravene these policies.

“We are deeply troubled,” a CHL statement read, “by the allegations in the recently announced class action, many of which are historic in nature and we believe are not indicative of the leading experience our players receive in the CHL today. Regardless of the timing, we are taking the claims very seriously as the protection of our players has been and will always be our primary concern.”

The CHL said each year its teams are charged with the care and safety of 1,400 young men and is committed to ensuring an environment that is players first and free of hazing, abuse, harassment and bullying and provides zero tolerance for any of these behaviours.

“The CHL and its member leagues have made a number of advancements to enhance our player experience programs over the past 20 years,” states the release. “We have been working with organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian Red Cross and Respect in Sport to develop extensive policies and practices to educate players and team staff on the importance of respect and prevention of hazing, abuse, harassment and bullying.”

CHL teams conduct annual player conduct and safety training involving procedures for filing a complaint without fear of reprisal. It includes advising a coach, general manager, police liaison, player liaison or a governor or league official. If criminal conduct is involved, players are encouraged to contact police.

“We believe these programs protect our players and ensure that everyone associated with our teams understand that the type of misconduct alleged is not tolerated,” stated the CHL.

The CHL hopes the independent review will be completed prior to the 2020-21 season.

“We welcome the findings of the Independent Review Panel to ensure we are providing the safest player experience in hockey and amateur sport,” stated the release.

The lawsuit seeks damages for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and a declaration that the teams and leagues are vicariously liable for abuse perpetrated by their employees and players.

“This case is on behalf of underage minors who suffered violent hazing, physical and sexual assault and psychological trauma while playing major junior hockey,” Carcillo said in a statement. “I was one of those kids when I played in the OHL. I know there are many more just like me.”

Thursday: What are the Peterborough Petes doing to prevent abuse?

Ryan Munce didn’t fully realize what was happening the first time his teammates abused him.

The then 17-year-old, a goalie for the 2002-2003 Sarnia Sting, walked into the dressing room for practice when another player beckoned at him with one finger, he said.

“Come here, Muncey,” Munce recalled him saying. “Just bend over my knee. I just wanna slap your ass a bit.”

The veterans in the room started yelling at Munce to “do it” and said if he didn’t they’d “beat his ass.” Munce said he then walked over to the player, who caressed his ass before smacking it.

The abuse only grew from there. “That blossomed into it being bare-assed, and then the paddle,” said Munce. “It was ultimately better when the paddle got introduced because at least the physical touch wasn’t there.”

At this time Munce was already a world-class goaltender. He won a gold medal for Canada at the U18 World Juniors in 2003 and was drafted to the NHL in the third round. He should have felt on top of the world, but Munce said he had suicidal thoughts because of the abuse.

Ryan Munce playing for the Sarnia Sting in 2002. Photo via Ryan Munce.

Horror stories from junior hockey have been prevalent, and reported on, for decades. Yet there have been few consequences over that time. Now a shocking new class-action lawsuit could be the start of a long-overdue reckoning for Canada’s most popular sport.

The suit was brought forward by Munce’s then-teammate and NHL veteran Daniel Carcillo and Lethbridge Hurricanes player Garrette Taylor. The lawsuit alleges that “Canadian major junior hockey has been plagued by rampant hazing, bullying, and abuse of underage players, by coaches, team staff, and senior players.” It names all three major junior hockey leagues in Canada—the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Ontario Hockey League—collectively known as the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), as defendants.

“Rather than respond to or make meaningful attempts to prevent such abuse, the defendants have instead perpetuated a toxic environment,” reads the statement of claim.

The lawsuit alleges a litany of abuse: players were sexually assaulted, forced to masturbate in front of teammates or coaches, made to consume the “urine, saliva, semen, or feces of teammates,” forced into “sexual engagement with animals,” had their genitals tied to heavy objects or dipped in irritants or toxic liquids, and had things forcibly shoved into their anuses.

James Sayce, the lead counsel of the lawsuit, told VICE while there are many details he can’t divulge, “it appears there is a large number of people who want to tell their stories.”

The CHL responded to VICE’s requests for comments by pointing to a statement it released Friday that said it was “deeply troubled by the allegations in the lawsuit.” The league announced it was starting a “Independent Review Panel to thoroughly review the current policies and practices in our leagues that relate to hazing, abuse, harassment and bullying and the allegation that players do not feel comfortable reporting behaviours that contravene these policies.”

The Sarnia Sting did not respond to a request for comment.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. You can read the lawsuit in its entirety below.

Brock McGillis, a former OHL player who was one of the first professional hockey players to come out as gay and is now an advocate for making hockey more inclusive, said he’s not fully confident of the league’s ability to take on the problems raised in the lawsuit effectively.

“You have the same people who have perpetuated the cycle trying to shift the cycle,” said McGillis. “It’s never gonna work. I’ve been predicting for over a week that they would just start more task forces.”

It’s hard to overstate how important the CHL is to hockey in general, and to the Canadian psyche in particular. Talented teenage hockey players from across Canada and all over the world join the league. They’re expected to leave their families and billet in a new town, usually a small to-mid-sized Canadian city, where they will likely be the biggest sports team the city has to offer.

Despite increasing competition internationally, the CHL is still the most important feeder league in the world for the NHL. More than 30 percent of the players drafted into the NHL in 2019 came from the CHL. Sidney Crosby played for the Rimouski Océanic, Connor McDavid played for the Erie Otters, and Wayne Gretzky played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. But while the talent in the league is immense, so is the amount of scandal associated with it.

One of the highest profile coaches in the league in the 90s, Graham James, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault in 1997 in regards to more than 300 incidents that took place over 10 years on two specific players. After serving his time and being released in 2000 and pardoned in 2007, James was charged and sentenced again in 2011 after other players including NHL star Theo Fleury came forward. While in prison he plead guilty to another sex assault charge in 2015. He was granted full parole in 2016.

In March, the CHL finally settled a class-action lawsuit over minimum wage payments for $30 million, after the suit dragged on for six years—the CHL denies the players and the league are employers and employees.

Countless other stories have been written about the league’s hazing rituals and its players being charged with sexual assault.

Dr. Kristi Allain, an associate professor in sociology at St. Thomas University who studies how hockey influences national identity, interviewed upwards of 50 professional hockey players from 2002 to 2012 for research on hockey culture. Hazing and sexual violence were brought up consistently by the players.

“It’s an ongoing problem that’s deep-rooted into the culture of hockey and I think it’s been allowed to perpetuate itself because of the insular nature of the institution,” said Allain. “‘What happens in the room, stays in the room’ is kinda their mantra.”

While there are rules against hazing in the league, typically the abuse is kept quiet, said Allain.

The lawsuit mentions players being forced to sit in the shower as other players urinated and spat on them; in another instance, players filled up a cooler with “urine, saliva, and other bodily fluids” and forced other players to bob for apples in it.

Munce, who intends to add his name to the lawsuit, told VICE he wasn’t forced to bob for apples but did see it happen and remembered the mix being dark with chewing tobacco spit.

In another incident that Munce recalled, also mentioned in the lawsuit, a rookie was tied up while naked and players beat him with a belt. When the coach walked in to tell them to tone it down, the players pressured the coach into hitting the teen himself, which gave the actions a “huge endorsement,” Munce said.

The lawsuit also details a disturbing but well-known ritual for junior teams. During road trips, the lawsuit claims, a group of rookies get stripped naked and forced into the team bus washroom for lengthy periods of time. Sometimes players poured chewing tobacco, urine, and spit onto them through the vents.

“This is something in the hockey community that every single person knows about and just assumed was normal,” said Munce. “Everyone knows about the ‘hotbox.’”

Munce said since he wasn’t there for the initial hotbox, he was forced to strip and wait in the bathroom naked by himself.

Taylor, the lawsuit’s other plaintiff, said he was forced to dress up in women’s clothing and made to drink to the point of passing out. These sort of parties, often dubbed “rookie parties,” occur at all levels of junior hockey (and in other sports). Taylor said the rookies were subjected to “racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs” daily and forced to fight their teammates.

Journalist Laura Robinson published Crossing the Line, a book that detailed hazing and sexual violence in junior hockey in 1998. Many of the acts included, as well as those outlined in a CBC documentary from that time, are similar to those mentioned in the lawsuit. Hazing in the league goes back generations. Legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie (and federal politician) Ken Dryden, who played in the NHL from 1970-1979, told the Fifth Estate in 1997 that he was always terrified of hazing.

In her book, Robinson found that hazing and abuse happen at all levels of hockey. In 2011, a 15-year-old player for the Neepawa Natives who played junior ‘A’ in Manitoba told his parents about how he and other rookies were forced to walk around the dressing room with water bottles taped to their scrotums while a coach was in the room. The incident sparked an RCMP investigation, although no charges were laid, and league discipline.

Ryan Munce and his wife in 2020. Photo courtesy of Ryan Munce

McGillis said he doesn’t believe the league is willing to change.

“This stuff still exists; it just might not be as overt as it used to be,” McGillis told VICE News. “I’m tired of hockey people patting themselves on the back for minimal improvements. It’s microscopic shifts when massive shifts are needed.”

Players who speak out are often ostracized by the players and staff for betraying the room and therefore become “problems in the room.” Many go from being hazed to doing the hazing. The problem becomes cyclical, as the rookies become the vets, and the vets become the coaches.

“There are very few people (running) the CHL who haven’t been part of the league since they were young children,” said Allain. “It’s a system of abuse that reproduces itself through generations. These systems sort of go in unchecked when there’s nobody else in the system to raise questions.”

The mantra of keeping what happens behind dressing room doors quiet is something that starts even before junior hockey. Both McGillis and Munce said they were fully ingrained in that culture by the time they hit the CHL. Allain said she has a family member whose 10-year-old boy is going into the sport and was told by a coach not to tell his parents what happened between the players and coaches.

Every person interviewed for this story said they were confident that many talented players, who could have had great NHL careers, walked away from the sport because of the culture of hazing and abuse.

Former NHL player, Akim Aliu, who is Black, came forward earlier this year with a story about how his AHL coach Bill Peters said the N-word in front of him while denigrating hip-hop in 2009. Peters resigned from his NHL coaching position last year when the story surfaced. In a separate incident, Aliu refused to get in the hotbox in 2005 during a CHL road trip and a few days later, during practice, had seven teeth knocked out by a cross-check delivered from Steve Downie, a right-winger who would go one to have a lengthy (and controversial) NHL career. The two publicly fought on camera following the hit and it was widely reported to be in retribution for Alui’s refusal to be hazed. Downie hasn’t commented on the incident.

“There will be more reckonings for coaches, more incidents highlighting the dark side of hockey culture,” Aliu wrote in a recent piece for the Player’s Tribune. “Hockey is not unique. It has the same problems that plague our whole world. There’s not much we can do about that right now.

“What we can do is be honest.”

Allain said while she stopped interviewing players in 2012, she sees no reason for something so deeply rooted in hockey culture to have disappeared.

Since the time of the Sting allegations, the CHL has implemented several programs to deal with hazing. This includes a zero-tolerance police for hazing across all three leagues. Some newer players, such as Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat, have said the abuse they received was minimal. Other players and coaches have claimed hazing has practically been phased out.

Still, other players say otherwise. Recently Eric Guest, a former Kitchener Rangers player who last played for the team in 2019, said that while at a party with teammates, older players forced him to snort cocaine. McGillis said he hears horror stories from the locker room all the time. Carcillo previously told VICE he received stories almost daily outlining abuse in hockey.

Despite games being some of the biggest attractions in their towns and being aired on Sportsnet, as well as lucrative sponsorship deals for the league, the typically teenage CHL players aren’t paid for their labour. The players, still maturing both mentally and physically, are taken from their parents and thrust into the waiting hands of a league that, after decades, is just finally starting to address the problem.

It’s important to remember who the adults in the room are.

“It always starts from the top down,” said Munce. “It starts from the coaching staff, it starts from Hockey Canada, it starts from the owners and the directors of CHL. It starts up there and trickles down. It always does. You’re not going to ask the kids to change and that’ll change the adult situation. It needs to come from the top.”

Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on VICE US.

The syndicate reportedly works in convincing lower-ranked players from South America and Europe to fix matches, while the group’s members then place bets with bookies accordingly.

Two individuals of Indian ethnicity but residing in Melbourne, allegedly a part of the Australian branch of an international tennis match-fixing syndicate, have been charged by the Victoria Police for influencing at least two lower-level tournaments in Brazil and Egypt during the 2018 season, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. The head of the syndicate, revealed as Indian-resident Ravinder Dandiwal by police documents, however has not been charged as yet.

The syndicate reportedly works in convincing lower-ranked players from South America and Europe to fix matches, while the group’s members then place bets with bookies accordingly.

Dandiwal, according to his social media description reported in the SMH, is said to be the owner of India-based sports management company Ultimate Sports Management, and has promoted cricket tours in the past – such as the Willowfest Australian Cricket Championship in 2017 and the Asian Premier League T20, held in Nepal a year later. He has also been described as the ‘General Secretary of the Cricket Council of India’ and ‘Chairman of the Cricket Premier League.’

The case comes just a few days after Tunisian player Majed Kailani was found guilty by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) of fixing matches played in 2016.

Match fixing, like in other sports, has been plaguing tennis especially since there are official tournaments taking place at the same time all over the world, making it difficult for authorities to police all the events.

Who are the two individuals arrested and what are the charges?

Harsimrat Singh, 22, (a relative of Dandiwal) and Rajesh Kumar, 32, have received nine and 16 charges respectively. Both are residents of Point Cook, a suburb in Melbourne. They have been charged with using information regarding a fixed match to place a total of 22 bets.

According to the charges reported by the SMH, the duo were given information about “one or more of the players… and had arranged with Ravinder Dandiwal to manipulate the result of the match” or of players who had been “recruited (by Dandiwal) to engage in corrupt conduct.”

With the information, the pair placed 22 bets ranging from AUD 8.70 to AUD 25,000 on lower-level tennis matches, with an estimate of AUD 320,000 (around 1.66 crore INR according to today’s exchange rate) expected in winnings. It is also alleged that a part of the winnings are then shared with the players involved.

The pair had been arrested in 2018 and charges have been filed now awaiting a court hearing scheduled for September.

At what level of tennis does match fixing take place the most?

The problem is rife at the lower levels, mainly in the Futures events. Countries like Egypt and Brazil conduct numerous events at the lower level – which is perhaps why the syndicate had aimed to fix matches at these venues. The South American nation also hosts at least one Challenger event, along with the ATP 500 event at Rio de Janeiro, but the higher the level of a tournament, the less likely it is to be involved in match fixing owing to obvious scrutiny.

Why is match fixing prominent at the lower levels?

The players that normally compete at these events are ranked quite low and cannot get an entry to the better prize money events. These players tend to be unknown on the circuit, and since the prize money at this level is not lucrative, they are easy prey. The investigation by the Victoria Police also found that all the players targeted by Kumar and Singh’s group were ranked lower than 200.

What is the pay gap between tournament tiers?

The winner of the M25 event (the highest for a Futures event) in Nussloch, Germany is USD 3600. The amount is doubled to USD 7200 for the winner of the USD 50,000 Bangkok Challenger (a step up from Futures). In both these cases, the winner of the event has to win five matches in knockout format. Meanwhile, the first round loser at the main draw of the Australian Open received AUD 90,000, which is just under USD 62,000. All these events took place in the same week, commencing January 20, 2020.

The disparity in prize money at different levels has been a keen point of discussion after the tour was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving lower ranked players in particular without an income.

Has there been a case of a high profile player being involved in match fixing?

In January this year, former world no 69 Joao Souza of Brazil was banned for life by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after an investigation revealed that he had been involved in match-fixing at Challenger and Future events in Brazil, Czech Republic, Mexico and the United States. Souza was also charged with failure to report approaches to fix matches, and also failing to cooperate with the investigation.

Do tennis governing bodies coordinate with betting firms to keep track of illegal activities?

Yes. The most prominent case was in 2007, when then world no 4 Nikolay Davydenko pulled out during his match against unfancied Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello, who was ranked 87 at the time. During their second round match at an ATP event in Poland, betting company Betfair noticed bets being placed on the match to the tune of, according to a BBC report, UK Pound 3.4 million, which was about 10 times the usual money put on second round matches. Crucially, the bet was on Arguello winning the match, despite Davydenko claiming the first set.

Betfair considered void all the bets because of the alarming irregularity, and duly notified the ATP about the unusual pattern. The ATP began its investigation, but after a year cleared Davydenko and Arguello of any wrongdoing.

Has the ATP put up measures to quell unfair betting?

Yes. Though most ATP events are broadcast, there is a lag that can go up to a minute between the live action and pictures coming up on the television screen. During the lag, people in the audience can message punters, who can alter bets immediately before a particular point is televised.

Accordingly, the TIU sends a security team to monitor the crowd at stadia during ATP Tour matches. The team keeps an eye out for suspicious activity – for example, a fan using the phone or laptop frequently during a match. In such cases, security officials investigate the situation, and it may result in the fan being banned from attending tennis events in the future.

Have the governing bodies been proactive in their investigations?

Not entirely. In 2016, the BBC and BuzzFeed News conducted an investigation and revealed that “16 players who have ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they have thrown matches.”

The report claimed that some of the players were former Grand Slam winners. Another report from 2008 alleged that 28 players had been involved in illegal activities.

None of the findings however, were followed up on by authorities as the ATP was reluctant to dig into cases going back 10 years, according to BBC.

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Editor’s Note: This report contains graphic language detailing alleged sexual misconduct, including sexual assault and rape.

The Hustler is aware of at least eight allegations of sexual misconduct against Vanderbilt students and alumni, including football players. The Hustler has communicated with four of those who have come forward and will continue to report on this story as we are able. At this time, The Hustler is not reporting the names of accused individuals as we continue to investigate and attempt to contact involved parties. This story will be updated as more information becomes available to The Hustler.

Students and alumni came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault and rape, against multiple current and former Vanderbilt football players via Twitter on June 20.

The accused football players have either not responded to requests for comment from The Hustler or denied the allegations.

A spokesperson for Vanderbilt University’s athletic department emailed the following statement to The Hustler on June 20, in response to questions about four of the allegations: 

“We are deeply committed to ensuring the safety of each and every member of our Vanderbilt community. Acts of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in any context are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Any reports of sexual misconduct are forwarded to the Title IX Office for follow-up.”

On June 21, Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee posted a nine tweet thread acknowledging the accusations and stating “these allegations are handled by [Vanderbilt’s] Title IX and student accountability offices.” Her Twitter statement was later republished on the Vanderbilt athletics’ website.

Lee also said in the statement, “As a former student-athlete myself and someone who has dedicated herself to this university, I have no greater duty than making sure that all of the young people who come through Vanderbilt stay as safe and healthy as possible, and are able to succeed.”

Student groups including Vanderbilt BSA, Vanderbilt CSA, Vanderbilt NAACP, the Alpha Gamma Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Eta Beta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. have issued statements condemning sexual misconduct on Vanderbilt’s campus, supporting survivors and those who have been sharing their stories and calling for stronger allyship and accountability. 

On June 24, Interim Chancellor and Vice Provost Susan Wente and Athletic Director Lee also emailed a joint statement from the university addressing sexual misconduct and assault that read in part: “As women and mothers ourselves, our hearts go out to all whose lives have been forever altered by any such heinous acts. As leaders, we are committed to striving every day to provide the safest and healthiest environment possible for all of our students, and we are deeply sorry that this institution we have worked to lead has not been able to provide this for everyone.”

In response to the recent allegations, the university will be conducting a review of campus policies, processes and support systems to assess their effectiveness, per the statement. The review will then inform an action plan that will address process gaps and improve existing programs that are operated by Project Safe, the Title IX office, Vanderbilt athletics and other parts of the university to combat sexual misconduct, according to the university’s statement.

These accusations came seven years after four former Vanderbilt football players—Brandon Vandenburg, Cory Batey, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie—were charged with five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. In addition, Vandenburg was charged with tampering with evidence and unlawful photography.

Vandenburg was eventually sentenced to 17 years in prison. Batey and Banks were each sentenced to 15 years in prison, and McKenzie was sentenced to 10 years of probation as part of a plea deal, according to a 2018 New York Post article.

Kaleigh Clemons-Green was one of the students who came forward on June 20, 2020 and was willing to speak to The Hustler about her experience. Clemons-Green, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, graduated from Vanderbilt in May and was a member of the women’s basketball team. 

Clemons-Green said she decided to share her story because one of the other women that had posted allegations on Twitter was a mentor of hers at Vanderbilt.

“I didn’t want [my mentor] to feel like people don’t believe her,” Clemons-Green said. “Being another student-athlete as well, people think it can’t happen to us because we are student-athletes. They think that we have a voice with these things. It happens to even the ones people think are the strongest. I didn’t want her to feel alone and I wanted her to have some validation. This is not just an isolated incident.”

Clemons-Green said she first encountered her alleged assaulter prior to her arrival at Vanderbilt. She said she had met the former Vanderbilt football player through a mutual friend.

The alleged assault took place in 2018. Clemons-Green said she was spending time with the former football player in her dorm room, similar to previous encounters they’d had.

“Then it escalated,” Clemons-Green said. “He made a move, and I did not feel comfortable with it. I said no, but it progressed, and his aggressions started to get stronger. At that point, I told him seriously that he needed to stop.”

Once she threatened to start yelling, the former football player stopped, Clemons-Green said.

Clemons-Green said she reported the incident to Project Safe but not to the Title IX office.

“I wanted them to know the name in case it ever happened again to anyone else, but I did not want to report to the police. They just had his name in their database,” Clemons-Green said.

“It actually happened again with the [football player] to someone else,” Clemons-Green said. “[The victim] reported it, so that process was a little different just because he was a serial offender at this point. The second time it happened, they had to—by law—notify people that it happened a second time. So when it happened a second time, I was notified.”

Clemons-Green said she received the notice from Project Safe via email but does not know any information about the other alleged victim. 

The Hustler was not able to obtain a copy of the email from Clemons-Green or Project Safe, nor confirm that the athlete was reported to Project Safe.

“In accordance with best practices and to protect student privacy, Project Safe does not confirm that it is working or has worked with particular students, even when those students may have shared their experiences publicly,” Cara Tuttle Bell, Director at Project Safe, said in an email to The Hustler. 

“Survivor speak-outs of all forms can prompt a range of emotional responses, and we have been helping students process their experiences and feelings and offering guidance for how students can support their friends,” Tuttle Bell said. “Project Safe remains available 24 hours a day to support any member of the VU community who has been affected by sexual assault or other forms of intimate partner violence.”

“It seemed like there was a lack of accountability on the football side. He was getting in trouble on campus,” Clemons-Green said. “Because he was a football player, people were turning a blind eye to it.”

Other publications including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, 247 Sports and Bleacher Report have written about the recent allegations.

“,”heading”:””,”fullWindow”:false,”fullBleed”:false,”showFullBleedOnMobile”:false,”headColor”:””,”type”:”html5mobile”,”textColor”:””,”mobileImageUrl”:””,”bgColor”:””,”imageUrl”:””,”registeredOnly”:false,”linkUrl”:””,”internalScroll”:false,”displayStyle”:”small-up”},”text”:”Read the full story from the Star’s Steve McKinley.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”12:27 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 17 new deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including 11 in the last 24 hours. There were also 53 new cases, for a total of 54,937.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”There are 500 people in hospital, down 15 from the previous day. Of those, 52 are in intensive care.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The province also announced today it would cease providing daily updates as of Friday, in favour of once-a-week updates every Thursday.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”A total of 5,441 people have died from the novel coronavirus in Quebec, and 23,710 have recovered.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”12:20 p.m. (updated): Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 5,508 additional cases of COVID-19, setting another daily total record high since the start of the pandemic. The state now has a total of 109,014 confirmed cases.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”snippet”:” “,”heading”:””,”fullWindow”:false,”fullBleed”:false,”showFullBleedOnMobile”:false,”headColor”:””,”type”:”html5mobile”,”textColor”:””,”mobileImageUrl”:””,”bgColor”:””,”imageUrl”:””,”registeredOnly”:false,”linkUrl”:””,”internalScroll”:false,”displayStyle”:”small-up”,”text”:”Previously, the highest daily total of newly confirmed cases was on Saturday, with 4,049 cases. There were also 44 new deaths announced Wednesday, raising the statewide death toll to 3,281.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Less than half of the new cases were in South Florida. It is still unclear if any of the new deaths were in South Florida.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”On Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations hit an all-time high for the second day in a row with 818 patients, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard data. According to Tuesday’s data, 108 people were discharged and 114 people were admitted.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”While a record number of COVID-19 patients are filling Miami-Dade hospitals, with one medical center in Homestead reaching ICU capacity on Tuesday, hospitals countywide say they still have more beds available than beds filled with COVID-19 patients.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Hospital administrators say there is also a silver lining in the growing number of new cases and hospitalizations in Florida’s hardest-hit county: The patients are younger and not as severely ill as they were during the first wave in April, and doctors and nurses have gained valuable experience in the months-long pandemic — leading to shorter hospital stays and better outcomes.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Scientists are also still working to learn more about the virus, including how many people in the community are infected and have mild or no symptoms, which can make it difficult to determine what percentage of the cases hospitalizations represent.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”10:52 a.m.: Ontario has extended its state of emergency to July 15.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Premier Doug Ford has said he is hopeful that will be the last extension of the emergency declaration. The motion passed the legislature this morning.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Many of the emergency orders made under the state of emergency are expected to continue even after July 15, including bans on large gatherings.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”After the state of emergency expires, the province won’t be able to make new emergency orders, amend them, or re-enact old ones, but existing ones can be extended.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Local medical officers of health will still have certain powers under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which is what some have used to require masks in commercial establishments.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Read the full story from the Star’s Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”snippet”:”n”,”heading”:””,”fullWindow”:false,”fullBleed”:false,”showFullBleedOnMobile”:false,”headColor”:””,”type”:”html5mobile”,”textColor”:””,”mobileImageUrl”:””,”bgColor”:””,”imageUrl”:””,”registeredOnly”:false,”linkUrl”:””,”internalScroll”:false,”displayStyle”:”small-up”,”text”:”10:37 a.m.: The Toronto International Film Festival has announced plans for this year’s annual movie marathon, which will include both physical and digital screenings, virtual red carpets and drive-ins.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The festival’s 45th edition is slated to run Sept. 10-19 and has been reimagined to follow the protocols set by authorities to avoid the spread of COVID-19.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Organizers say the 10-day event will have a lineup of 50 new feature films, five programs of shorts and an online industry conference.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”It will also have outdoor experiences, press conferences, interactive talks, and Q-and-As with cast and filmmakers.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”TIFF didn’t provide specific details on how such events will unfold, but it’s clear this will be a much different festival than the usual extravaganza of hundreds of films and a city crawling with stars, cinephiles and celebrity watchers.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The films include Francis Lee’s “Ammonite,” starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, Halle Berry’s directorial debut “Bruised,” and “Concrete Cowboy” by Ricky Staub, starring Idris Elba, Jharrel Jerome, and Lorraine Toussaint.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”10:35 a.m.: The New York City Marathon, the world’s largest marathon and one of the city’s biggest annual spectacles, has been cancelled this year as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus continue to dash hopes of holding large-scale events, organizers announced Wednesday.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The race, one of the most prestigious and lucrative events of its kind, would have celebrated its 50th anniversary in November. It is one of the highlights of fall in New York and on the endurance sports calendar, attracting more than 50,000 runners, 10,000 volunteers and roughly one million fans, who line nearly every accessible yard of the 42.1-km course through the five boroughs.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”City officials and New York Road Runners, which owns and organizes the event, decided holding the race would be too risky. Public health experts have said mass events, especially those that bring people together from across the globe, will remain a danger until a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is widely available.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”With the announcement, New York became the third of the six major international marathons to be canceled in 2020.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”10:30 a.m.: The Toronto International Film Festival will go ahead Sept. 10-19 but will be much smaller, with a lineup of 50 new feature films, five programs of short films, virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry talks. as well as interactive talks.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”10 a.m.: The COVID-19 outbreak has sparked “an ugly ticketing pandemic” rife with racial profiling by overzealous enforcement officers, a new Canadian Civil Liberties Association report finds.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”In a 37-page study entitled “Stay Off The Grass: COVID-19 and Law Enforcement in Canada,” the rights watchdog calculates 10,000 tickets were issued between April 1 and June 15.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Read the full story from the Star’s Robert Benzie.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”8:10 a.m. (updated): Modified ferry service to the Toronto Islands will resume Saturday, Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday morning.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”type”:”cta”,”buttonText”:”Sign Up Now”,”buttonLink”:”/emails.html?nsrc=article-inline-covid”,”description”:”Never miss the latest news from the Star, including up-to-date coronavirus coverage, with our email newsletters”,”title”:”Get the latest in your inbox”,”text”:”Ferries will operate at 50 per cent capacity, Tory told reporters at a news conference at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Passengers will be required to bring their own masks and wear them on the boat. Visitors are being urged to buy their ferry tickets in advance online at www.toronto.ca/ferry — only 5,000 tickets a day will be sold. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Passengers are also urged to plan a visit at non-peak hours if possible — 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. are the busiest times.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Only one ferry had been operating during the COVID-19 lockdown, principally for the 700 residents of the islands.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”While washrooms on the islands will be open, Centreville Amusement Park and play structures on the islands will remain closed.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Ferry tickets must be purchased ahead of time online and are only valid for the date selected at the time of purchase. Additional staff will be on hand at the ferry terminal to assist visitors with these new requirements.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Read the full story from the Star’s Francine Kopun.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”7:28 a.m. Oxford University said testing for coronavirus infection could become quicker and more accurate, following the launch of a multicenter national program of research to evaluate how new diagnostic tests perform in hospitals, general practices and care homes.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The COVID-19 National DiagnOstic Research and Evaluation Platform, or CONDOR, will create a single national route for evaluating new diagnostic tests in hospitals and in community healthcare settings, according to a statement on the university’s website on Tuesday morning.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The research program seeks to bring together experts who are “highly experienced in evaluating diagnostic tests and generating the robust evidence required” for a test to be used in the U.K.’s National Health Service statement.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Jointly led by the University of Oxford and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, the program will put the many tests developed by the life sciences industry to either detect current coronavirus infection or to find out if someone has previously been infected through their paces in hospital, general practice, and care home environments.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”7:26 a.m.: New virus cases declined Wednesday in China and its capital, Beijing, where a roughly two-week spike appears to be firmly on the wane.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”A total of 12 cases were reported nationwide, compared to 22 the day before. Beijing had seven cases, down from 13. There were two cases in neighbouring Hebei province and three that were brought in from abroad.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”No new deaths were reported and 359 people remained in treatment for COVID-19, with another 118 in monitoring and isolation for testing positive while showing no symptoms or for being suspected cases.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”China has reported 4,634 deaths from 83,430 cases since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Beijing’s ongoing outbreak has topped 250 cases, virtually all linked to the city’s biggest wholesale market, and led to lockdowns of some neighbourhoods and the closing of recently re-opened schools.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”7 a.m.: Sicily’s governor says 28 migrants who were rescued at sea have tested positive for the coronavirus, confirming a new complication in Italy’s efforts to manage waves of migrants smuggled across the Mediterranean from Africa.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The migrants were being held on a ship off Porto Empedocle where they’re taken to quarantine after being rescued.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Sicily Governor Nello Musumeci said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the positive tests confirmed that he was right to demand special at-sea quarantine measures for migrants to prevent new clusters from forming in Italy, the onetime European epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The positive tests come as an Italian parliamentary commission is visiting Porto Empedocle precisely to check on migrant and health care issues.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”type”:”relatedStories”,”relatedStories”:[],”text”:”Summertime has traditionally been peak season for migrant smugglers operating in lawless Libya, and officials have predicted an increase in efforts to reach Europe with the easing of the health emergency in Italy and the resumption of activities of humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”6:10 a.m.: You can finally get a haircut, eat at a restaurant patio, or visit malls in Toronto and Peel Region for the first time in 13 weeks on Wednesday as they join the majority of Ontario in entering Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The province announced Monday that more businesses and services will be allowed to open with appropriate public health measures in place. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Restaurants and bars will be open for delivery, takeout and outdoor dining only, according to the City of Toronto. Shopping malls will be open, but you’ll have to go elsewhere to enjoy the food court as dining spaces will be prohibited. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Personal care services like barber shops, hair styling, nails, tattoos and esthetic services will be allowed to open. Though you will have to hold off on face-related pampering like facials and beard trims a while longer. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Recreational and cultural spaces are also allowed to reopen, including water recreational services like indoor and outdoor swimming pools and splash pads. Community centres will reopen for “a very limited number of modified uses,” the City says, including certain outdoor sports and recreational activities. Campgrounds, museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos and heritage institutions are also reopening. As are libraries with limited on-site services, film and television production, tours and guide services.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”6:05 a.m.: New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The U.S. on Tuesday reported 34,700 new cases of the virus, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published Wednesday. There have been only two previous days that the U.S. has reported more cases: April 9 and April 24, when a record 36,400 cases were logged.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”New cases in the U.S. have been surging for more than a week after trending down for more than six weeks. While early hot spots like New York and New Jersey have seen cases steadily decrease, the virus has been hitting the south and west. Several states on Tuesday set single-day records, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Cases were also surging in other parts of the world. India reported a record daily increase of nearly 16,000 new cases. Mexico, where testing rates have been low, also set a record with more than 6,200 new cases.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”But China appears to have tamed a new outbreak of the virus in Beijing, once again demonstrating its ability to quickly mobilize vast resources by testing nearly 2.5 million people in 11 days. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Tuesday 7 p.m.: The owner of a farm where some 199 migrant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 says his operation assiduously followed public health guidelines to prevent an outbreak, and has previously been lauded for providing quality accommodation to migrant workers.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”In an interview with the Star on Tuesday, Scotlynn Growers president Scott Biddle said the local health department has “always used us as an example for what other farmers should be doing.””,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”“We’re building housing for another hundred men this year,” Biddle told the Star, adding that the new accommodation will be larger than what’s currently required by Health Canada to account for any changes to federally-mandated housing standards.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”The comments come after a Star investigation revealed a history of complaints at Scotlynn by Mexican migrant workers about substandard housing and other concerns.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”In reports to the Mexican Ministry of Labour between 2016 and 2018, workers described overcrowded bunkhouses, bedbug infestations, and sometimes failure to receive timely medical attention. Scotlynn received 33 complaints over the two year period, the highest number of any Canadian farm. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”On Saturday, 55-year-old father of four Juan López Chaparro, who worked at Scotlynn, died after fighting COVID-19 for three weeks.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Read the full story from Sara Mojtehedzadeh here.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Tuesday 6:50 p.m.: Canada could avoid a second wave of the coronavirus if it learns the lessons of South Korea and Taiwan and attacks testing, tracing and treatment of COVID-19 cases and practices “dynamic distancing” from the get-go, MPs heard Tuesday.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”That means as the economy reopens, communities must be ready to reimpose physical distancing and socially restrictive measures periodically with surges in disease activity in order to contain outbreaks and allow economic revitalization to continue, Asaph Young Chun, head of Korea’s Statistics Research Institute, told the Commons health committee.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Those “nonpharmaceutical” interventions are the best “exit strategy” from the COVID-19 lockdowns, he said.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Two American health experts said South Korea and Taiwan showed the path for other countries to follow, but they warned Canada against reopening too quickly even to its neighbours, the United States.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”Read the full story from Tonda MacCharles here.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”text”:”-“,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”type”:”textBreakPoint”,”insertAt”:”contentEndBreakPoint”,”text”:”Click here for more news from Tuesday.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”type”:”shareBar”,”type”:”trustbar”],”assetTags”:[“smg_canada”,”covid_updates”,”covid_19″,”coronavirus”,”canada”,”bn1″,”covid”,”kmi2″,”smg2_news”,”coronarolling”,”coronafree”],”seoKeywords”:”coronavirus,COVID-19,covid,Canada,coronarolling,coronafree,covid updates,BN1,KMI2,smg_canada,smg2_news”,”excludeInRecommendations”:false,”promo”:[],”related”:”pubdays”:0,”strategy”:0,”speciallabel”:”name”:”Free Digital Access”,”seoHead”:”Several players and staff members on the Toronto Blue Jays have tested positive ; Windsor-Essex gets green light to go to Stage 2; Ferry service to Toronto Islands resumes Saturday”,”headline”:”Several players and staff members on the Toronto Blue Jays have tested positive ; Windsor-Essex gets green light to go to Stage 2; Ferry service to Toronto Islands resumes Saturday”,”subheadline”:”New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and back to where they were at the outbreak’s peak.”,”removeInterestedInFlag”:true,”canonicalUrl”:”https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/06/24/coronavirus-covid-19-updates-canada-toronto-gta-june-24.html”,”seoDescription”:”New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and back to where they were at the outbreak’s peak.”,”storytag”:”Updated”,”publishedepoch”:1592993700000,”lastmodifiedepoch”:1593030801419,”abstractVisible”:false,”relatedLinks”:[],”paywallMode”:”outofwall”,”storyuuid”:”3c2d12e7-a05a-4295-9ff7-50ff70848dad”,”republish”:true,”slideshowid”:”B881171393Z.1″,”lastmodified”:”06 24 2020″,”lastreplicated”:”4:33 PM, Wed., June 24, 2020″,”readtime”:13,”breadcrumbs”:[“label”:”News”,”relurl”:”/news”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/content/thestar/news.html”,”label”:”Canada”,”relurl”:”/news/canada”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/content/thestar/news/canada.html”],”authors”:[“author”:”Star staff”,”photo”:,”author”:”wire services”,”photo”:],”paywall”:true,”ogUrlMetatag”:”https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/06/24/coronavirus-covid-19-updates-canada-toronto-gta-june-24.html”,”numOfParagraphs”:100,”liftigImage”:”captionPosition”:”overlay”,”fullWindowMainart”:false,”type”:”image”,”imageid”:”GL2VSID8.3″,”origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”cropthumb”:”0,0,1200,800″,”lastmodified”:1593030801684,”forceoriginal”:false,”caption”:”Queen West Barber Shop is cutting hair again as Toronto joins the rest of Ontario in phase two of reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. 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By Star staff
wire services

Wed., June 24, 2020timer13 min. read

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Wednesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

4:25 p.m.: WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will lay off 3,333 employees as part of major restructuring amid the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the travel industry.

The company says it will consolidate call centre activity in Alberta, restructure its office and management staff and contract out operations at all but four of the 38 Canadian airports where it operates.

3:45 p.m. : Several players and staff members on the Toronto Blue Jays have tested positive for COVID-19, a source has told The Canadian Press.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not officially announced the positive cases.

The developments come a week before the start of training camp ahead of a recently approved 60-game regular season. The Blue Jays shut down their spring training complex last Friday in Dunedin, Fla., after a player presented symptoms consistent with the virus.

2:39 p.m.: Manitoba RCMP say they’ve been called for a second time this month because an airline passenger was not wearing a mask while flying.

The Mounties say they responded to a report Monday night of an unruly passenger on a flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg, and were told that the man had refused directions to wear a protective mask.

They say a 39-year-old Winnipeg man is facing a charge of refusing to comply with flight crew instructions, which carries a maximum fine of $5,000.

On June 14, a flight from Vancouver to Toronto was diverted to Winnipeg due to an alleged unruly passenger.

RCMP said a 60-year-old man from Surrey, B.C. was charged after lighting a cigarette during the flight and refusing to wear a mask.

The accused in that case was remanded in custody on charges including mischief, smoking onboard an aircraft and refusing to comply with flight crew instructions.

1:36 p.m.: Most of the region of Windsor-Essex will be allowed to move into Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan after originally being held back due to COVID-19 farm outbreaks, Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday.

The only exceptions will be the communities of Leamington and Kingsville, which have seen large numbers of cases among migrant workers.

Ford said he has a plan to address the situation on farms, while also allowing COVID-19 positive but asymptomatic workers to continue on the job, with safety protocols in place.

“This is one of (farmers’) busiest times of the year,” Ford said. “They need the extra help and unlike other professions, most of it is outdoors and isolated.”

12:39 p.m.: The four Atlantic provinces have announced plans to ease interprovincial travel restrictions, creating a so-called “bubble” as the region has reported relatively few new COVID-19 infections in recent weeks.

As of July 3, residents of Atlantic Canada will be allowed to travel within the region without having to self-isolate for two weeks when arriving in another province.

Visitors from provinces and territories outside the region will still be required to self-isolate for 14 days and adhere to the local entry requirements in each of the four jurisdictions.

However, once the self-isolation period has passed, these visitors will also be allowed to travel within the Atlantic region.

Each of the four provinces will choose its own process for tracking and monitoring travellers.

The decision to ease travel restrictions was guided by each of the four provinces’ chief medical officers of health, who are asking travellers to adhere to ongoing public health directives.

Read the full story from the Star’s Steve McKinley.

12:27 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 17 new deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including 11 in the last 24 hours. There were also 53 new cases, for a total of 54,937.

There are 500 people in hospital, down 15 from the previous day. Of those, 52 are in intensive care.

The province also announced today it would cease providing daily updates as of Friday, in favour of once-a-week updates every Thursday.

A total of 5,441 people have died from the novel coronavirus in Quebec, and 23,710 have recovered.

12:20 p.m. (updated): Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 5,508 additional cases of COVID-19, setting another daily total record high since the start of the pandemic. The state now has a total of 109,014 confirmed cases.

Previously, the highest daily total of newly confirmed cases was on Saturday, with 4,049 cases. There were also 44 new deaths announced Wednesday, raising the statewide death toll to 3,281.

Less than half of the new cases were in South Florida. It is still unclear if any of the new deaths were in South Florida.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations hit an all-time high for the second day in a row with 818 patients, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard data. According to Tuesday’s data, 108 people were discharged and 114 people were admitted.

While a record number of COVID-19 patients are filling Miami-Dade hospitals, with one medical center in Homestead reaching ICU capacity on Tuesday, hospitals countywide say they still have more beds available than beds filled with COVID-19 patients.

Hospital administrators say there is also a silver lining in the growing number of new cases and hospitalizations in Florida’s hardest-hit county: The patients are younger and not as severely ill as they were during the first wave in April, and doctors and nurses have gained valuable experience in the months-long pandemic — leading to shorter hospital stays and better outcomes.

Scientists are also still working to learn more about the virus, including how many people in the community are infected and have mild or no symptoms, which can make it difficult to determine what percentage of the cases hospitalizations represent.

10:52 a.m.: Ontario has extended its state of emergency to July 15.

Premier Doug Ford has said he is hopeful that will be the last extension of the emergency declaration. The motion passed the legislature this morning.

Many of the emergency orders made under the state of emergency are expected to continue even after July 15, including bans on large gatherings.

After the state of emergency expires, the province won’t be able to make new emergency orders, amend them, or re-enact old ones, but existing ones can be extended.

Local medical officers of health will still have certain powers under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which is what some have used to require masks in commercial establishments.

Read the full story from the Star’s Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie.

10:37 a.m.: The Toronto International Film Festival has announced plans for this year’s annual movie marathon, which will include both physical and digital screenings, virtual red carpets and drive-ins.

The festival’s 45th edition is slated to run Sept. 10-19 and has been reimagined to follow the protocols set by authorities to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Organizers say the 10-day event will have a lineup of 50 new feature films, five programs of shorts and an online industry conference.

It will also have outdoor experiences, press conferences, interactive talks, and Q-and-As with cast and filmmakers.

TIFF didn’t provide specific details on how such events will unfold, but it’s clear this will be a much different festival than the usual extravaganza of hundreds of films and a city crawling with stars, cinephiles and celebrity watchers.

The films include Francis Lee’s “Ammonite,” starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, Halle Berry’s directorial debut “Bruised,” and “Concrete Cowboy” by Ricky Staub, starring Idris Elba, Jharrel Jerome, and Lorraine Toussaint.

10:35 a.m.: The New York City Marathon, the world’s largest marathon and one of the city’s biggest annual spectacles, has been cancelled this year as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus continue to dash hopes of holding large-scale events, organizers announced Wednesday.

The race, one of the most prestigious and lucrative events of its kind, would have celebrated its 50th anniversary in November. It is one of the highlights of fall in New York and on the endurance sports calendar, attracting more than 50,000 runners, 10,000 volunteers and roughly one million fans, who line nearly every accessible yard of the 42.1-km course through the five boroughs.

City officials and New York Road Runners, which owns and organizes the event, decided holding the race would be too risky. Public health experts have said mass events, especially those that bring people together from across the globe, will remain a danger until a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is widely available.

With the announcement, New York became the third of the six major international marathons to be canceled in 2020.

10:30 a.m.: The Toronto International Film Festival will go ahead Sept. 10-19 but will be much smaller, with a lineup of 50 new feature films, five programs of short films, virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry talks. as well as interactive talks.

10 a.m.: The COVID-19 outbreak has sparked “an ugly ticketing pandemic” rife with racial profiling by overzealous enforcement officers, a new Canadian Civil Liberties Association report finds.

In a 37-page study entitled “Stay Off The Grass: COVID-19 and Law Enforcement in Canada,” the rights watchdog calculates 10,000 tickets were issued between April 1 and June 15.

Read the full story from the Star’s Robert Benzie.

8:10 a.m. (updated): Modified ferry service to the Toronto Islands will resume Saturday, Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday morning.

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Ferries will operate at 50 per cent capacity, Tory told reporters at a news conference at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.

Passengers will be required to bring their own masks and wear them on the boat. Visitors are being urged to buy their ferry tickets in advance online at www.toronto.ca/ferry — only 5,000 tickets a day will be sold.

Passengers are also urged to plan a visit at non-peak hours if possible — 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. are the busiest times.

Only one ferry had been operating during the COVID-19 lockdown, principally for the 700 residents of the islands.

While washrooms on the islands will be open, Centreville Amusement Park and play structures on the islands will remain closed.

Ferry tickets must be purchased ahead of time online and are only valid for the date selected at the time of purchase. Additional staff will be on hand at the ferry terminal to assist visitors with these new requirements.

Read the full story from the Star’s Francine Kopun.

7:28 a.m. Oxford University said testing for coronavirus infection could become quicker and more accurate, following the launch of a multicenter national program of research to evaluate how new diagnostic tests perform in hospitals, general practices and care homes.

The COVID-19 National DiagnOstic Research and Evaluation Platform, or CONDOR, will create a single national route for evaluating new diagnostic tests in hospitals and in community healthcare settings, according to a statement on the university’s website on Tuesday morning.

The research program seeks to bring together experts who are “highly experienced in evaluating diagnostic tests and generating the robust evidence required” for a test to be used in the U.K.’s National Health Service statement.

Jointly led by the University of Oxford and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, the program will put the many tests developed by the life sciences industry to either detect current coronavirus infection or to find out if someone has previously been infected through their paces in hospital, general practice, and care home environments.

7:26 a.m.: New virus cases declined Wednesday in China and its capital, Beijing, where a roughly two-week spike appears to be firmly on the wane.

A total of 12 cases were reported nationwide, compared to 22 the day before. Beijing had seven cases, down from 13. There were two cases in neighbouring Hebei province and three that were brought in from abroad.

No new deaths were reported and 359 people remained in treatment for COVID-19, with another 118 in monitoring and isolation for testing positive while showing no symptoms or for being suspected cases.

China has reported 4,634 deaths from 83,430 cases since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

Beijing’s ongoing outbreak has topped 250 cases, virtually all linked to the city’s biggest wholesale market, and led to lockdowns of some neighbourhoods and the closing of recently re-opened schools.

7 a.m.: Sicily’s governor says 28 migrants who were rescued at sea have tested positive for the coronavirus, confirming a new complication in Italy’s efforts to manage waves of migrants smuggled across the Mediterranean from Africa.

The migrants were being held on a ship off Porto Empedocle where they’re taken to quarantine after being rescued.

Sicily Governor Nello Musumeci said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the positive tests confirmed that he was right to demand special at-sea quarantine measures for migrants to prevent new clusters from forming in Italy, the onetime European epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The positive tests come as an Italian parliamentary commission is visiting Porto Empedocle precisely to check on migrant and health care issues.

Summertime has traditionally been peak season for migrant smugglers operating in lawless Libya, and officials have predicted an increase in efforts to reach Europe with the easing of the health emergency in Italy and the resumption of activities of humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean.

6:10 a.m.: You can finally get a haircut, eat at a restaurant patio, or visit malls in Toronto and Peel Region for the first time in 13 weeks on Wednesday as they join the majority of Ontario in entering Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan.

The province announced Monday that more businesses and services will be allowed to open with appropriate public health measures in place.

Restaurants and bars will be open for delivery, takeout and outdoor dining only, according to the City of Toronto. Shopping malls will be open, but you’ll have to go elsewhere to enjoy the food court as dining spaces will be prohibited.

Personal care services like barber shops, hair styling, nails, tattoos and esthetic services will be allowed to open. Though you will have to hold off on face-related pampering like facials and beard trims a while longer.

Recreational and cultural spaces are also allowed to reopen, including water recreational services like indoor and outdoor swimming pools and splash pads. Community centres will reopen for “a very limited number of modified uses,” the City says, including certain outdoor sports and recreational activities. Campgrounds, museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos and heritage institutions are also reopening. As are libraries with limited on-site services, film and television production, tours and guide services.

6:05 a.m.: New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak.

The U.S. on Tuesday reported 34,700 new cases of the virus, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published Wednesday. There have been only two previous days that the U.S. has reported more cases: April 9 and April 24, when a record 36,400 cases were logged.

New cases in the U.S. have been surging for more than a week after trending down for more than six weeks. While early hot spots like New York and New Jersey have seen cases steadily decrease, the virus has been hitting the south and west. Several states on Tuesday set single-day records, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas.

Cases were also surging in other parts of the world. India reported a record daily increase of nearly 16,000 new cases. Mexico, where testing rates have been low, also set a record with more than 6,200 new cases.

But China appears to have tamed a new outbreak of the virus in Beijing, once again demonstrating its ability to quickly mobilize vast resources by testing nearly 2.5 million people in 11 days.

Tuesday 7 p.m.: The owner of a farm where some 199 migrant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 says his operation assiduously followed public health guidelines to prevent an outbreak, and has previously been lauded for providing quality accommodation to migrant workers.

In an interview with the Star on Tuesday, Scotlynn Growers president Scott Biddle said the local health department has “always used us as an example for what other farmers should be doing.”

“We’re building housing for another hundred men this year,” Biddle told the Star, adding that the new accommodation will be larger than what’s currently required by Health Canada to account for any changes to federally-mandated housing standards.

The comments come after a Star investigation revealed a history of complaints at Scotlynn by Mexican migrant workers about substandard housing and other concerns.

In reports to the Mexican Ministry of Labour between 2016 and 2018, workers described overcrowded bunkhouses, bedbug infestations, and sometimes failure to receive timely medical attention. Scotlynn received 33 complaints over the two year period, the highest number of any Canadian farm.

On Saturday, 55-year-old father of four Juan López Chaparro, who worked at Scotlynn, died after fighting COVID-19 for three weeks.

Read the full story from Sara Mojtehedzadeh here.

Tuesday 6:50 p.m.: Canada could avoid a second wave of the coronavirus if it learns the lessons of South Korea and Taiwan and attacks testing, tracing and treatment of COVID-19 cases and practices “dynamic distancing” from the get-go, MPs heard Tuesday.

That means as the economy reopens, communities must be ready to reimpose physical distancing and socially restrictive measures periodically with surges in disease activity in order to contain outbreaks and allow economic revitalization to continue, Asaph Young Chun, head of Korea’s Statistics Research Institute, told the Commons health committee.

Those “nonpharmaceutical” interventions are the best “exit strategy” from the COVID-19 lockdowns, he said.

Two American health experts said South Korea and Taiwan showed the path for other countries to follow, but they warned Canada against reopening too quickly even to its neighbours, the United States.

Read the full story from Tonda MacCharles here.

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Change is coming to one of the Confederate statues in the LOU Community, but members of the Ole Miss football team are asking for more.

In a video posted on Twitter this past weekend, Ole Miss players called for the Confederate statue in front of the Lafayette County Courthouse be removed.

The two-minute video features MoMo Sanogo, Ryder Anderson and Jerrion Ealy, among other players, asking the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors to move the statue from its current location.

This comes after the Institutions of Higher Learning approved the University of Mississippi’s relocation plan of the statue located on the Lyceum Circle last Thursday. Players praised the IHL’s vote in the video.

“It’s that we remove that statue from the Square and continue to work towards that,” Anderson said.

The video ended with every player saying “Together. We Can.”

On Monday, the Board of Supervisors held a special meeting allowing for residents of Oxford and Lafayette County to discuss their stance of either removing the statue or keeping it where it currently stands. No action was taken but the Supervisors could bring it up for a vote at their July 6 Board meeting or at a future meeting. Only Lafayette County has the power to remove the statue as it resides on County property.

The players also spoke out about police brutality with the video starting with Anderson giving his condolences to George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Dominique Clayton and “countless others who had their lives taken,” Anderson said.

Clayton was found murdered in her bed last May, resulting in the arrest of former Oxford Police officer Matthew Kinne, who was charged with capitol murder. Kinne’s trial was set to start in April but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed Lafayette County’s April court session.

Sanogo and other players are taking part in L-O-U-NITED’s A March for Progess: Together We Can event on Saturday. The march will begin at 3 p.m. at City Hall where t-shirts will be sold with proceeds donated to The Family of Dominique Clayton Fund and The Boy’s and Girl’s Club of North Mississippi.

You can watch the full video below:

Together. We. Can.
Let’s make our community better for all ?? #BLM pic.twitter.com/Qt1fh5ZPGH

— S A N O G O (@_momosanogo) June 20, 2020

Change is coming to one of the Confederate statues in the LOU Community, but members of the Ole Miss football team are asking for more.

In a video posted on Twitter this past weekend, Ole Miss players called for the Confederate statue in front of the Lafayette County Courthouse be removed.

The two-minute video features MoMo Sanogo, Ryder Anderson and Jerrion Ealy, among other players, asking the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors to move the statue from its current location.

This comes after the Institutions of Higher Learning approved the University of Mississippi’s relocation plan of the statue located on the Lyceum Circle last Thursday. Players praised the IHL’s vote in the video.

“It’s that we remove that statue from the Square and continue to work towards that,” Anderson said.

The video ended with every player saying “Together. We Can.”

On Monday, the Board of Supervisors held a special meeting allowing for residents of Oxford and Lafayette County to discuss their stance of either removing the statue or keeping it where it currently stands. No action was taken but the Supervisors could bring it up for a vote at their July 6 Board meeting or at a future meeting. Only Lafayette County has the power to remove the statue as it resides on County property.

The players also spoke out about police brutality with the video starting with Anderson giving his condolences to George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Dominique Clayton and “countless others who had their lives taken,” Anderson said.

Clayton was found murdered in her bed last May, resulting in the arrest of former Oxford Police officer Matthew Kinne, who was charged with capitol murder. Kinne’s trial was set to start in April but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed Lafayette County’s April court session.

Sanogo and other players are taking part in L-O-U-NITED’s A March for Progess: Together We Can event on Saturday. The march will begin at 3 p.m. at City Hall where t-shirts will be sold with proceeds donated to The Family of Dominique Clayton Fund and The Boy’s and Girl’s Club of North Mississippi.

You can watch the full video below:

Together. We. Can.
Let’s make our community better for all ?? #BLM pic.twitter.com/Qt1fh5ZPGH

— S A N O G O (@_momosanogo) June 20, 2020

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baseball has cleared its last manmade hurdle in order to play the 2020 season. The coronavirus is still waiting, but now the owners and players can concentrate on fighting it instead of each other.

On Monday night Commissioner Rob Manfred, with the unanimous support of MLB’s 30 owners, agreed to move forward with the season after the players association rejected their latest proposal. On Tuesday night, the players agreed to report to Spring Training II on July 1 with the idea of starting the 60-game season on July 23 or July 24 and ending it on Sept. 27.

The last item to be checked off the list was the health and safety protocols to combat the virus. When that was agreed upon, the MLBPA pushed the send button on this Tweet on Tuesday night.

Players will cycle into camp a few at a time, starting with pitchers and catchers, because they have to be tested for the virus. The Indians already have about 10 players working out at Progressive Field, including the starting rotation. Practice is expected to start on July 3.

Teams will be able to bring 60 players to camp. The Indians have made provisions to use other facilities in the area — Classic Park in Eastlake, Canal Park in Akron, St. Ignatius High School facilities or the Crushers Ballpark in Avon — if things become too crowded at Progressive Field.

The majority of teams will conduct Spring Training II at their big-league ballparks.

Teams, according to reports, could open the season with a 30-man roster, which would drop to 28 and then 26. If this was a normal season, teams would open the season with a 26-man roster, one more than last season.

Each team will keep a taxi squad of 20 to 30 players in reserve to support the big league club in case of illness, injury or poor performance. It will be interesting to see what type of players teams keep in reserve. Will they be players only from the 40-man roster or could they be prospects who teams want to keep in a competitive environment so they don’t miss an entire season with no minor-league games being played.

The DH will be used in both leagues this year. In extra-inning games a runner will be placed on second base in every inning after the ninth. If the run scores, the pitcher will not be charged with an earned run.

Aug. 31 will be the trading deadline. Teams can start making trades and roster moves, according to The Athletic, on Friday. The rosters have been frozen since spring training was suspended on March 12.

MLB has sent the 2020 schedule to the players association for review. The Indians’ opponents will be their AL Central foes and the teams in the NL Central — the Cubs, Pirates, Reds, Cardinals and Brewers. This will limit travel, expenses and exposure to the virus.

Taking the Tribe as an example, here’s how the schedule is expected to break down, according to USA Today. The Indians will play 10 games each against the Twins, White Sox, Tigers and Royals. Then they’ll play 20 games against teams from the NL Central.

“I’m excited to get going,” said Indians utility player Mike Freeman. “At the end of the day, we’re going to play baseball and compete. I think that’s what everyone has been missing at this point. Just being in the clubhouse and getting back into that routine of getting ready for games.

“I think all of us at this level we thrive on competition. So we’re looking forward to getting that going again.”

MLB’s original safety protocols called for players to shower and dress in their uniforms at home or in their hotel rooms. It sounds like that restriction has been relaxed.

New Indians face masks for sale: Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity.

More Indians coverage

MLB owners, players force 2020 season upon us by disagreement: Hoynes

Twins favored to repeat as champions: AL Central 2020 preview

Reds’ flashy offseason has them favored for division crown: NL Central 2020 preview

MLB will proceed with 2020 season; asks players to report to spring training by July 1

Get to know the 2020 Indians with this roster refresher

MLB moves forward with plan to implement 2020 season: Social media reaction

What does implementing a 60-game season mean for Indians? Podcast

Larry Doby signs with Japanese baseball team: On this date in Indians history

The importance of Hunter Dozier and other Royals takeaways: AL Central 2020

Royals boast 3 league leaders on offense, pitching questions: Podcast

Brad Hand’s save streak peaks: On this date in Cleveland Indians history

Does injury factor increase in short season? Hey, Hoynsie!

If it refuses to accept COVID reality, MLB should shut the game down: Pluto

It has been nearly two years since the home of former Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins was the scene of an alleged killing and his brother was charged.

Now, it’s happened again to a local NFL star.

On Monday, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office announced that Haseez Brown, 33, the brother of former Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and weapons charges.

Brown is the older brother of Wilkerson, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said Monday.

Prosecutors said Brown fired multiple shots into a vehicle outside his brother’s Bridgewater residence and struck the driver, Roobino Philemon, of West Orange.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Philemon attempted to go to a birthday party at the residence, but was told to leave. As Philemon was sitting in the car, authorities said Brown walked up toward the rear of the vehicle and allegedly fired multiple rounds into the vehicle, striking Philemon once.

This incident comes nearly two years since Jenkins’ brother was involved with a fatal incident at the home the former Giants cornerback’s rented Bergen County.

On June 26, 2018, William H. Jenkins, his brother, was charged with aggravated manslaughter when Roosevelt Rene, a music producer nicknamed “Trypps Beatz”, was found dead at Jenkins’ home.

Police officers found Rene’s body, after receiving a report of “suspicious conditions” at Jenkins’ home.

Rene and Jenkins’ brother had been living in the home while Janoris Jenkins was in Florida.

The homeowners eventually sued Janoris Jenkins for $700,000, claiming the crime devalued their property and that Jenkins and his brother did roughly $300,000 in physical damage to the residence.

Janoris Jenkins had a two-year lease for $66,000 a year or $5,500 a month that expired May 31, 2018, according to court documents cited by NorthJersey.com. He wanted to extend the lease at the time of the alleged killing, the documents said. 

Jenkins spent the following two seasons with the Giants before he was released in December. He signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Wilkerson has been out of the NFL since 2018, when he played one season for the Green Bay Packers. He spent seven years before that with the Jets and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2015, when he accumulated a career-best 12 sacks.

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Follow Matt Lombardo on Twitter and Instagram at @MattLombardoNFL.