Watch Episode 51 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation on Youtube or below, listen wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or below, or scroll down for the show notes.

An interview with Patricia McConnell, PhD, about her new book Away to Me

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Away to Me is Patricia McConnell PhD’s first mystery novel, and it’s gorgeous. I fell in love with the main character, Maddie, and all of the dogs in the book, and I know you will too. Kristi and I chatted with Patricia to learn more about the book and why she decided to write fiction set in the dog world.

We talk about:

•     What made Patricia decide to write a mystery novel
•     The main character, Maddie McGowan
•     Whether it was fun to be writing dogs as characters
•     How she wrote about the dogs as real characters & without turning the interactions into negative/aversive ones.
•     The many different dog training cases that appear as secondary characters in the book
•     Patricia has previously written many wonderful non-fiction books, including her memoir, The Education of Will. What’s different about writing fiction?
•     The power and importance of friendships and how dogs are one of the ways that many people can find a community?
•     What motivates her to write, and will we see more of Maddie after this? 

Away to Me will be published on Feb 24th and is available for pre-order wherever books are sold, including Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores in the US.

Also mentioned:

The book Patricia recommend is The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow.

Patricia McConnell PhD is an internationally-renowned applied animal behaviourist who has dedicated her life to improving the relationship between people and animals. Amongst her many treasured dog training books, The Other End of the Leash draws our attention to the human side of dog training. Her memoir, The Education of Will, is a beautifully-written and uplifting account of how to reclaim life after trauma, for both humans and dogs. Her first mystery novel, Away to Me, publishes on 24 Feb 2026.

Learn more about Patricia and her book, Away to Me, on her website.

Patricia McConnell first told us about the book at Bark! Fest

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Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores.

Doctors in Prince Edward Island are continuing to voice their concerns with recent changes to their workloads.

About 100 family physicians recently signed a letter saying they’re concerned about the number of patients they see under a new agreement between the Medical Society of P.E.I., the Department of Health and Wellness and Health P.E.I.

Dr. Trina Stewart, a family doctor in Summerside and president of the P.E.I. College of Family Physicians, said most of their concern centres on how doctors will collect the data for the work they do.

“We all spend time in our offices with our patient panels, but many of us also feel very important gaps in the system at large,” Stewart said.

“It’s also work that the system has come to expect from us and they need us for and further gaps would develop if we couldn’t do them.”

Under the agreement, the workload system contains two models. One would see 1,600 patients as “the benchmark” for a doctor’s panel, while the other allows for 1,300 patients.

Stewart said many family doctors are looking to the second option because “everybody is working at full capacity right now.”

The deadline for physicians to decide on which model they want was initially Jan. 31, but Health P.E.I. later extended it to Feb. 28.

Stewart said she’s concerned doctors won’t be able to serve the health-care system in the way needed, which could be detrimental to patients. She said doctors want to have “diversity” in their work.

“We need to be attractive and competitive from a recruitment standpoint,” Stewart said.

“We feel like the negativity … we’ve had within Health P.E.I. and the communication that we’ve historically had being lost is impacting that, unfortunately.” 

‘The foundation of health care’

In a statement, the College of Family Physicians of Canada said family doctors are “the foundation of health care in Canada,” and that governments should “recognize their importance and treat family physicians’ voices and perspectives with respect as health policy is being developed.”

The national college described the concerns brought forward by its P.E.I. counterpart as “reasonable.”

“At a time when administrative burden takes time away from patient care and deteriorates the physicians’ well-being, the new agreement seems to impose excessive reporting requirements,” the statement reads.

“The current approach does not signal collaboration, but risks pushing family doctors away from choosing P.E.I. as a place to practice and sends a counter-productive message to family medicine learners.”

There’s fear. This is our livelihood. These are our patients. We really care about them– Dr. Trina Stewart

Stewart described the current level of frustration with Health P.E.I. and the provincial government as “serious.” She pointed to a January survey of doctors conducted by the P.E.I. College of Family Physicians that suggested 77 per cent of respondents believe the new agreement will drive away physicians away from the province.

“There’s fear,” Stewart said. “This is our livelihood. These are our patients. We really care about them.”

She said doctors understand the importance of performance management and that the group believes in accountability, but said family physicians are being scrutinized unfairly.

“We’ve been expecting that this would come, but we were hopeful that we would be part of the discussion. And, unfortunately, that hasn’t happened in the last year,” she said. “We just really need to be part of the conversation.”

A strained relationship

Stewart said the relationship between family doctors and Health P.E.I. has been strained as of late. To fix it, she said, family physicians need to be allowed “to come back to the table.”

“There have been a lot of sleepless nights around … what this actually is going to translate into,” she said. “We really do need to be thoughtful about this because we do not want to further harm an already strained system.”

Stewart said it’s been a difficult year, but there is still hope. She wants to stop focusing on numbers and move on to patient care and safety. 

“When they trust you and you trust them, there’s magic that can happen,” she said. “What we need to rebuild the foundation of the system is to have more family doctors coming in and carrying panels, and we need it competitive.”

Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser told CBC News on Wednesday that the health authority is hopeful that relationship will improve.

“I think any time you go through one of these negotiation processes it can create tension, for sure,” Fraser said.

“We are committed to working through that tension and working through the new parts of the agreement that have raised concern, and there are changes. There’s lots to be learned.”

Winkler’s mayor is calling for respect after his southern Manitoba city was been chosen as the site for a Pride march for the first time.

Henry Siemens said in a Facebook post he’s fielded many comments about the event, after Pembina Valley Pride announced on social media its Pride march this year will be held in Winkler, the largest community in the Pembina Valley region.

Siemens stressed the event isn’t being hosted by the city, but rather a private group.

He wrote that while he and council “don’t personally support all of the beliefs or ideologies of the various groups or events that might take place in Winkler,” they do support “individual freedom to plan and host their own events.”

“It is my sincere prayer that we, as a community, find a way to respect one another’s freedoms and pray that no one event would define who we are.”

In an interview, Siemens said he wanted to clear up any confusion, including from people who thought the event is being hosted by the city.

“I believe that it is important, as I mentioned in my [Facebook] post, that people are able to speak freely and if there are people who have a concern, they should be able to share it. If there are people who are supportive, they should also be able to share it.”

Pembina Valley Pride president Pauline Emerson-Froebe knows many people are excited Winkler will be hosting the June 13 march.

The group puts out a survey after every Pride, and when people were asked where they wanted the next event to be, Winkler was the top choice.

Winkler’s population was nearly 14,000, according to the 2021 census, but has grown since then.

Pride shows ‘you’re not alone’

Emerson-Froebe said it’s important to bring a Pride event to a city that is often regarded as a highly religious and conservative community.

“Sometimes, especially in rural areas, a lot of the queer community can feel like they’re the only one, and that really creates a sense of loneliness and isolation for a lot of people,” Emerson-Froebe told CBC Manitoba’s Radio Noon on Wednesday.

“Having a Pride really sends a clear message that you’re not alone.”

The reaction she’s seen on social media has been largely supportive, she said.

“In our experience, the most hateful and hurtful voices are often the loudest, and they don’t always represent the larger community of quieter supporters in the community.”

She said people who don’t like the event don’t need to attend.

Emerson-Froebe considers the Facebook post from Winkler’s mayor to be a “lovely response.”

Siemens eventually closed commenting on his post.

Pembina Valley Pride has been organizing annual in-person events for the 2SLGBTQ+ community since 2019, excluding a two-year absence owing to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

It’s been hosted twice in Morden, twice in Altona and once in Carman.

Emerson-Froebe expects this year’s event to include a rally, a march, a rainbow church service, drag performances and an afterparty at Carman 5 Pin Bowl.

After suffering through four-straight 3-9 seasons, Stanford football called in a familiar name and proven winner to direct the football program as general manager: Andrew Luck.

Luck replaced Troy Taylor with interim coach Frank Reich, who broke out of the three-win slump, going 4-8. Then Luck hired former Cardinal quarterback Tavita Prichart.

Stanford football has played 119 seasons through 2025, dating back to 1891.

The Cardinal did not play any games from 1906 to 1917, when the school played rugby instead, and from 1943 to 1945, due to World War II.

The Cardinal claimed national championships in 1926 and 1940.

In 1926, led by legendary coach Glenn “Pop” Warner, the team was undefeated in the regular season and tied Alabama in the 1927 Rose Bowl.

The 1940 team went unbeaten and untied after defeating Nebraska 21–13 in the 1941 Rose Bowl, but the team ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll released before the game was played.

The table below gives season rundowns with Conference, W-L record, win percentage, coach, and bowl game, if any, for each year

Biodiversity in Wetlands

Since wetlands offer a variety of unique characteristics distinct from other ecosystems, wetland animals adapt their habits and their physical appearance to blend well within these habitats. Common characteristics include webbed feet, streamlined bodies, camouflage, and feeding techniques/adaptations that allow for probing in the mud. 

Wetlands are especially vital as breeding grounds, and their destruction has far-reaching impacts. In fact, 95% of commercial fishing revenue in the U.S. is linked to species that breed in wetlands. Without these habitats, not only does biodiversity suffer, but so does a significant portion of our economy and food supply.

National Protections – Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act

Under the Clean Water Act of 1972, wetlands that are connected to Waters of the United States (WOTUS)—such as major rivers, lakes, and coastal areas—are federally protected. These connected wetlands play a crucial role in commerce, environmental health, and flood control.

However, isolated wetlands that aren’t linked to WOTUS often fall through the cracks. Without federal protection, they are vulnerable to being drained, filled, or developed.

Here’s where the Endangered Species Act (ESA) steps in. More than one-third of all species listed under the ESA depend on wetlands for survival—whether for breeding, feeding, or shelter. This includes amphibians (ex: eastern hellbender salamanders), birds (ex: whooping crane), mammals (ex: Florida panther), and fish (ex: killfish)  that are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction. 

State governments have passed protections for wetlands and endangered species too, but it’s a patchwork of protections that vary in strength – some states don’t have any protections at all. And, political border lines mean nothing to water and wildlife. That’s why national frameworks for protections are an important part of the strategy to save wetlands.

Since returning to office in 2025, the Trump administration has proposed extreme rollbacks to the implementation of both the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Why It Matters

While protecting wetlands helps save frogs or keeps birds chirping, it’s about preserving ecosystems that support human life, too. The fight to save wetlands is ultimately a fight to sustain the balance of nature and the services it quietly provides every day.

Canada Computers & Electronics continues to investigate a data breach affecting hundreds of people that has left customers frustrated over how the company handled the episode and communicated about it.

“This is something that shouldn’t have happened,” said Eric Pimentel, an IT professional who cancelled a credit card after being warned by the company that he’d potentially been affected — and was later told he was not.

Toronto’s Brad Seward likewise cancelled a card after getting a notification from Canada Computers, before he was advised that he had not been affected.

“It really sounds like this company is all over the place,” Seward said via email.

Canada Computers told CBC News on Tuesday that its “current investigation indicates this incident affected 1,284 customers.”

The Richmond Hill, Ont.,-headquartered retailer previously stated that, on Jan. 22, it learned of a data breach incident involving “unauthorized access to the system supporting our retail website,” which left personal customer information — including credit card information — compromised.

Canada Computers says it took immediate steps to contain the breach. It also notified authorities and launched an investigation. Affected customers were alerted on Jan. 25.

The breach has been reported to the federal privacy watchdog as well as to police in York Region.

Pimentel and Seward are among a half-dozen customers who told CBC News they received notification from the company about the breach and were then subsequently told that was not correct.

The company confirms it sent messaging of this nature out and says it apologizes for the confusion.

“This was a miscommunication,” the company said Tuesday. “Canada Computers sent the original notice to both affected customers and to some who were not impacted. We followed up with [the latter] to confirm that their customer information was not affected.”

The company did not say how many people had received this follow-up messaging.

Breach affected ‘guests’ only, company says

According to the company, the breach affected customers who checked out their purchases as “guests” on its website, and who also entered their personal information, between Dec. 29 and Jan. 22.

Pimentel said he did not check out as a guest. But the company’s explanation has not left him feeling more secure.

“I don’t feel confident at all,” he said, adding that he expects more transparency from a retailer as big as Canada Computers. The company operates more than 30 stores across four provinces, in addition to its retail website.

“It’s not a small mom-and-pop shop in some strip mall,” said Pimentel, who lives in Hamilton, Ont., within driving distance of two of the company’s stores.

Seward similarly said he did not check out as a guest when making his recent at Canada Computers.

And although he was told by the company he was not in the group of affected customers, he said its explanation “didn’t coincide with my experience.”

WATCH | B.C. minister challenged on huge data breach:

We tried to ask this B.C. minister about a data breach

Thousands of workers’ personal information was sold through the dark web after a data breach at B.C. Interior Health. The agency denied it ever happened. The fifth estate’s Mark Kelley showed up at an industry event to ask the minister in charge about it.

Breaches can go unnoticed for months

Terry Cutler, CEO of Montreal-based Cyology Labs, said cybersecurity episodes of this nature often go unnoticed for months before they are detected.

To his point, IBM publishes an annual report on the costs associated with data breaches. In 2025, it said the global average breach life cycle — the mean time required to identify and contain a breach and then restore services — was 241 days, or roughly eight months.

John Bruggeman, a Cincinnati, Ohio,-based cybersecurity professional with OnX, said there’s been suggestion online that customers may have helped bring the problem to the attention of Canada Computers, which could explain why the window of time the company is citing is relatively short.

Bruggeman noted that the company’s description of the incident suggests its website has a branch that deals with guest checkouts that is distinct from purchases made by users with dedicated accounts.

But both he and Cutler say people making purchases as a guest are probably doing so for practical reasons. Bruggeman said he normally decides whether to check out as a guest based on whether he wants to have further communication with the company.

As for the bigger picture, Cutler said stolen data can have a long shelf life, as “cybercriminals can get to it weeks, months, years later.”

To that end, Canada Computers says it has “provided guidance” to affected customers “on protecting their personal and financial information” and offering them two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

If you’re searching for the 2026 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament schedule or printable bracket, here’s the key update: There is no Pac-12 basketball tournament scheduled for March 2026. The conference is in a transitional phase following realignment, with only two remaining schools (Oregon State and Washington State) competing independently for the 2025-26 season. No tournament was held in 2025, and none is planned for 2026 due to the small league size and ongoing rebuild.

The Pac-12 is set to relaunch fully in the 2026-27 season (starting July 1, 2026) with nine members, including powerhouse additions like Gonzaga. A conference tournament is expected to resume in March 2027 (likely single-elimination, with USA Network and CBS broadcasting per recent media deals). This page explains the situation, lists the incoming teams, and provides resources for fans tracking the new era.

Why is there No 2026 Pac-12 Basketball Tournament?

• The “Pac-12” effectively shrank to the “Pac-2” after the 2023-24 exodus: USC, UCLA (to Big Ten), Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado (to Big 12), Cal, Stanford (to ACC).
• Oregon State and Washington State retained the conference name and rights but operated with minimal membership for 2024-25 and 2025-26.
• With only two teams, no full conference schedule or tournament was feasible. The focus has been on rebuilding for 2026-27.

The New Pac-12: 2026-27 Membership

The Pac-12 officially expands to nine full members starting July 1, 2026. This includes eight football-playing schools (meeting FBS requirements) and Gonzaga as a basketball-focused full member (non-football).

Confirmed 2026-27 Pac-12 Members:

• Oregon State Beavers (remaining original)
• Washington State Cougars (remaining original)
• Boise State Broncos (from Mountain West)
• Colorado State Rams (from Mountain West)
• Fresno State Bulldogs (from Mountain West)
• San Diego State Aztecs (from Mountain West)
• Utah State Aggies (from Mountain West)
• Gonzaga Bulldogs (from West Coast Conference; basketball powerhouse, non-football)
• Texas State Bobcats (from Sun Belt; added June 2025 as full member)

Key Notes:

• Gonzaga joins for all sports but won’t field football. This boosts men’s basketball with a perennial NCAA contender.
• The league will play a 16-game true double round-robin format in men’s basketball (home-and-away vs. every opponent) for 2026-27, per reports. This allows flexibility for non-conference scheduling (up to 16 games) under the new NCAA 32-game regular-season max.
• Media: USA Network will carry most regular-season games and tournament action (up to championship), with CBS handling the final.

A tournament is likely to return in 2027 (venue rumors point to Las Vegas as favorite), providing an automatic NCAA bid and exciting postseason play.

More College Basketball Resources

Early 2026 March Madness Odds & Predictions

Fans will already be checking out how the prospective PAC-12 members are going to do this March Madness. Here are some tools you can use to help follow the action. 

The Pac-12’s revival. Especially with Gonzaga, San Diego State, and Utah State, could make it a sneaky strong basketball league again.

Will Lewis has covered sports for over 18 years, specializing in bracketology, tournament predictions, and in-depth analysis across college hoops, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and more. March Madness is his favorite season, fueling his quest for perfect brackets before diving into pro playoffs. A lifelong Kentucky Wildcats fan, Bengals supporter since the Joe Montana era, and now a Padres devotee, Will delivers reliable, fan-first insights at Sports Brackets. Connect on X or comment. He loves talking brackets and more.

Julia pig came to Farm Sanctuary because authorities alerted us to the violent abuse the pregnant pig was facing, after a factory farm worker recorded her screams of pain and fear. As she was being moved from a gestation crate to a farrowing crate, where she would have given birth, she was beaten and shocked with an electric prod. When she collapsed, she was dragged by her ears. As heartbreaking as her story is, the cruelty Julia faced is common in animal agriculture, where mothers and babies are treated like commodities.

Thankfully, just eight hours after arriving at our New York sanctuary, Julia gave birth in safety. Her 16 piglets were born prematurely, and Julia was still injured—but with round-the-clock care, we helped this family heal. Unlike most pigs born into the heartless world of factory farming, Julia’s babies grew up at her side, and this protective mother never needed to be afraid again.