Amid a slew of fresh taxes proposed by the newly emboldened Democratic majority in Virginia, the latest entry seeks to sack people’s fantasy football leagues.

The Fantasy Contests Act, authored by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, would impose a 10% tax on fantasy sports revenue from games played within the Commonwealth.

Five percent, or 0.5 percentage points of the overall 10% tax, would go to the state’s problem-gambler treatment fund, while the other 95% (9.5 percentage points) would go to the state’s general fund.

VICTORIOUS VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MORPH FROM PRETEND MODERATES INTO LIBERAL EXTREMISTS OVER NIGHT

Fantasy Football Draft Notes. (iStock)

It also requires fantasy sports contest operators to register with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and obtain a permit before offering any games to people in the Commonwealth.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ebbin for comment on the tax, and how he came up with the idea for it.

While Ebbin did not respond by press time, Fox News Digital also attempted to press the senator on how this latest levy aligns with Virginia Democrats’ campaign mantra of “affordability.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to the state’s two legislative Republican caucuses for additional comment.

The Virginia Lottery would have rulemaking and oversight authority over daily fantasy sports, according to Gambling Insider.

Washington Commanders’ Austin Ekeler #30 trains in Ashburn, Virginia. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Other states are also considering legislation providing oversight or regulation of fantasy sports, including Illinois, the outlet reported.

There, a bill would grant the state’s gaming board the ability to tax and regulate such play at anywhere from 10 to 15%.

The Washington think tank Americans for Tax Reform came out swinging against the legislation with a full article-length critique of Ebbin’s plan.

“As with every tax and fee imposed on businesses, the cost doesn’t stay with the company; it’s ultimately passed on to consumers,” ATR wrote.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen works out prior to an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Chris O’Meara/AP Photo)

“This new tax inevitably translates into smaller prize pools, higher entry fees, fewer promotions and bonuses, and less competition in the market. In other words, Virginia players are the ones who end up footing the bill.”

ATR also criticized the logic behind how the bill was crafted, saying that if fantasy sports truly are skill-based — in that players use their sports knowledge to draft, start, sit and trade players — they should not be taxed “as though they were a vice.”

Virginia Democrats have also proposed a slew of other tax proposals — aside from their plan to redistrict potentially every Republican congressman except Morgan Griffith out of their seat.

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One such bill creates a net-investment income tax on trusts and estates, raising the Commonwealth’s top marginal rate to just under 10%.

Other proposals create new high-tax brackets, levy Second Amendment related purchases like an 11% tax on ammunition, place a tax on home-delivery services like Amazon, UPS and Uber Eats, and expand the current breadth of the state sales tax to include purchases not previously taxed under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tenure or earlier.

The two people fined in the death of a grizzly bear on Texada Island last year have now started a GoFundMe to help pay their fines and legal fees.

In a post on social media on Thursday, the Conservation Officer Service said Texada Island residents Kody Bevan and Seneca Antony pleaded guilty and were sentenced in Powell River provincial court on Thursday for failing to promptly report the wounding or killing of a grizzly bear, a violation under section 75(2) of the Wildlife Act (WLA).

Bevan and Antony received a combined penalty of $6,000, with $2,000 from each fine directed to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

However, they say in their GoFundMe description that they had to kill the bear as it was coming after their dairy cows and when they shot him, he fled and they had to track him down to make sure he didn’t suffer.

The two said in their write-up that the litigation “sends the wrong message to people who have dangerous encounters with wildlife.”

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One expert said the court fine is a good step, but the system still needs improvement.

“This was an important conviction,” Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of the Grizzly Bear Foundation.

“It’s important to acknowledge that the Wildlife Act was broken and that we value wildlife, maybe not as much as we’d like, given the decision and the amount of the fine. But we have to remember that the Wildlife Act hasn’t changed since the 1800s; it’s currently up for review. So there’s an opportunity to change that.”

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Two people charged in killing of grizzly bear on Texada Island

The grizzly, known as Tex, was first spotted on Texada Island in late May.

There was a plan and funding in place to relocate the bear, roughly 100 kilometres northwest to Bute Inlet, but by the time the B.C. government approved the process, the bear was shot dead.

“And there was nothing but heel-dragging by our province,” Ellie Lamb, a bear behaviour educator, said.

“So, my concern is that this is systemic. We are seeing this time after time.”

B.C.’s Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship was not available for comment on Friday.

“The province needs to work quicker and they need to work more closely with First Nations governments to co-manage these situations,” Scapillati said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done and hopefully this is a good message and acknowledgment so we can move forward.”

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The Department of Justice will allow members of Congress to review unredacted files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein starting on Monday, according to a letter that was sent to lawmakers.

The letter obtained by The Associated Press says that lawmakers will be able to review unredacted versions of the more than 3 million files that the Justice Department has released to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

To access the files, lawmakers will need to give the Justice Department 24 hours’ notice.

They will be able to review the files on computers at the Department of Justice. Only lawmakers, not their staff, will have access to the files, and they will be permitted to take notes, but not make electronic copies.

The arrangement, first reported by NBC News, showed the continued demand for information on Epstein and his crimes by lawmakers, even after the Justice Department devoted large numbers of its staff to comply with the law passed by Congress last year.

The Justice Department has come under criticism for delays in the release of information, failing to redact the personal information and photos of victims and not releasing the entire 6 million documents collected in relation to Epstein.

Still, lawmakers central to the push for transparency, described the concession by the Justice Department as a victory.

“When Congress pushes back, Congress can prevail,” Rep. Ro Khanna, who sponsored what’s known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, posted on social media.

Khanna has pointed to several emails between Epstein and individuals whose information was redacted that appeared to refer to the sexual abuse of underage girls.

The release of the case files has prompted inquiries around the world about men who cavorted with the well-connected financier.

Still, lawmakers are pressing for a further reckoning over anyone who may have had knowledge of Epstein’s abuse or could have helped facilitate it.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while he faced charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.

The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations.

Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.

The name of the victim is being withheld until her next of kin has been informed.

Lee, a first-round draft pick for the New York Jets in 2016, last played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills in 2020.

His four-year deal with the Jets was cut short by a year in 2019, when he left the franchise because of disciplinary problems and poor form.

Lee was part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster that won the Super Bowl in 2020, although he did not feature in the match.

He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in June 2021 but did not play before his release two months later.

Lee was arrested in 2023 for assault and domestic violence. The arrest report said he pushed a woman “against the wall, throwing her to the floor and striking her face and head eight to nine times with his closed fists”.

A nine-year-old’s goodbye echoed through a memorial service in January as she told her older sister she loved her. “Fly high my angel,” she said.

Lexi Blackwood was 12 years old when she took her own life.

Her father, Ryan Marshall, says Lexi was once confident and outgoing, but that began to change when she entered middle school.

“She was so confident until she started facing harassment and bullying on a daily basis,” Marshall said. “It basically chipped away her confidence until it was very well zero, and here we are today.”

According to her family, Lexi confided in her parents last October about ongoing verbal harassment, including comments targeting her appearance. Marshall says the bullying often came from students Lexi didn’t even know.

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“No one she knew in her classroom,” he said. “She didn’t even know these people constantly putting her down, calling her names.”

The family said they contacted the school for help but were instead referred to a youth counselling centre. They question why the focus was placed on Lexi’s mental health rather than addressing the alleged bullying.

In a statement, Central Okanagan Public Schools extended its sympathy to the family as they cope with what it called an “unimaginable loss.” The district said it cannot comment on the specifics of the case and that it follows a provincial safety education framework.

Marshall says the family felt Lexi’s experience was not taken seriously enough.

Her grandfather, Dwight Blackwood, says some steps were taken, but they didn’t address the root of the problem.

“They had a monitor in the hall for a few days,” he said. “But our little Lexi wasn’t even in the hallway anyway, they let her out five minutes early so she could avoid the crowds.”

Marshall says the situation became so severe that Lexi missed two weeks of school. When she returned, he says communication from the school was minimal.

Now, the family is calling for systemic change, including more proactive mental health resources and regular wellness checks, rather than relying on students to reach out on their own.

“We’re hoping for change in the school board,” Marshall said. “More direct resources. Not just two or three options that are completely reliant on the student to reach out themselves.”

For the family, sharing Lexi’s story is about preventing another loss.

“If we can stop one other family from going through this,” Marshall said, “that’s our goal.”

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Nearly 12 years after the death of his daughter, Gregg Perras still marks her birthday quietly, sitting in her chair in the Quinterra Legacy Garden while looking out over the Glenmore Reservoir in southwest Calgary.

“It was such a beautiful day. She would have loved that it was so sunny out,” Perras said.

“I like to come here on her birthday, so I came, and I sat in her chair, and I just looked out.”

The garden in South Glenmore Park honours the “Brentwood Five” — college-aged friends Jordan Segura, Josh Hunter, Kaiti Perras, Zachariah Rathwell and Lawrence Hong — who were killed at an end-of-year party in Calgary’s Brentwood neighbourhood in April 2014.

Matthew de Grood was found not criminally responsible for the homicides due to a mental disorder.

The garden, located at 90 Avenue and 24 Street S.W., opened in 2021. It features permanent outdoor musical instrument fixtures and a stage, which serves as a place to appreciate music and the arts, as well as to heal and remember those lives.

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For the families of the massacre victims, the space has become a place of reflection and connection rather than closure.

“It gives me peace, not closure — not total closure — but a sense that we have done something for our five children,” said Marlene Hong, Lawrence’s mother.

The entrance to the garden is normally marked by an ornate bronze plaque depicting a tree, with one branch representing each life lost.

But on what would have been Kaiti Perras’ 35th birthday, her father noticed the memorial sign was missing and presumed stolen.

“I’m kind of disgusted, to be honest,” Perras said.

“It’s kind of despicable that someone would take a memorial plaque from a park.”

Bronze plaque thefts have increased over the past five years as the value of metal has risen, according to the Calgary Police Service.

Acting Duty Insp. Shelby Stewart said it’s troubling when memorial items are targeted.

“Especially ones that carry any memorial value,” Stewart said. “We’ve seen war memorial plaques turn back up. I think once they realize that they can’t take it to the recyclers, oftentimes we’ll see them.”

Police are investigating the theft, canvassing nearby security cameras and asking anyone with information to come forward. Officers say there is still hope the plaque can be recovered.

The families are also appealing directly to whoever took it.

“Just lay it by the rock, we’ll put it back up,” Perras said.

“Walk away. No one will need to know.”

Despite the loss and the recent theft, the families say the Quintterra Legacy Garden remains a symbol of healing and community.

“This place gives hope,” Hong said. “Not only healing, but connecting with the community.”

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Quinterra Legacy Garden unveiled in memory of 5 Calgarians lost in Brentwood tragedy

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The Government of the Northwest Territories has many goals when it comes to housing. One of its more ambitious ones is to build 300 new housing units by the end of its mandate.

Still, the territory’s housing minister admits that those new units won’t fully meet the ongoing need.

Minister Lucy Kuptana released as update from her department on Friday, a day after the government tabled its budget for the next fiscal year. Speaking to CBC News, Kuptana shared more details on some of the challenges ahead.

“It’s never enough, we need so much more,” she said of the 300-unit goal, noting that the figure is limited by the territory’s finances.

Premier R.J. Simpson said in an address this week to open the legislative assembly that of those 300 units, 81 have so far been built. Another 155 units are in various stages of construction, and another 64 are still being planned.

The current government is about halfway through its mandate, but Kuptana says she’s confident it can deliver on its promise.

“We’re all responsible for it and we have to be accountable,” Kuptana said. She noted there are about 850 families currently on a housing waitlist.

Kuptana told the Legislative Assembly on Friday that many of the newly-built units are for seniors and singles living in communities. She said those are priority groups who are vulnerable to housing insecurity. 

Hundreds of units need repairs

Another key responsibility of the housing department is repairing public housing units. Kuptana said her department is currently doing repairs to more than 600 homes.

“Much of the repairs are major repairs,” she said, noting the government has about 1,100 homes that are about 40 years or older.

“I see old units, where people are trying to stay in the unit and live a good life, but sometimes it could be a leaky tap, an old furnace. Some people do complain of mold.” 

The territory currently has more than 2,400 public housing units. Major repairs can include problems with plumbing, a unit’s foundation, or electricity. 

Kuptana says the government is spending more than $30 million to repair those units over the next three years. She added that these repair projects support local employment and trades training opportunities across the Northwest Territories. 

Homeownership fund under review

Kuptana was also questioned in the Legislative Assembly on Friday by Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong, who said she has constituents who have been denied eligibility for the government’s home ownership eligibility program. She said they were denied because they exceeded an income threshold.

“Why have these applicants been deemed ineligible for exceeding this threshold when the home ownership initiative policy makes no reference to this requirement?” Weyallon Armstrong asked.

According to the government’s website, the homeownership fund is for clients with Housing N.W.T. who live in a detached unit and can pay operating and maintenance costs and wish to become a homeowner.

The funding program is open to adult residents who have lived in a detached public housing unit for at least three years, and “have consistent and steady income able to pay for all shelter costs.”

It is also not available for people in Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, Inuvik, or Yellowknife.

Kuptana said the program is currently under review.

Tim Skuce recalls the culture of silence he encountered among hockey players he once interviewed for research about the masculine identity of elite-level players.

When asked questions about hazings or other questionable behaviour, they told him they had witnessed it, but they didn’t stop it.

“They would say, `I was in the dressing room,’ or `I was at a private function and this was happening,” Skuce, an associate professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, said in an interview Friday.

“They felt really uncomfortable. But then they said, `I didn’t do anything.”‘

Skuce was commenting on the deeply ingrained problems within Canada’s hockey culture, a day after Nova Scotia RCMP announced that three boys were facing sexual assault charges following a hazing ritual last fall.

Later on Friday, the Mounties confirmed a fourth youth under the age of 18 was facing charges of sexual assault and assault with choking. The youth was arrested Thursday, the same day RCMP announced the first three arrests among members of a team in the Truro area, north of Halifax.

Positive sign a youth came forward

Skuce, who played hockey at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., said hazing rituals are meant to create a bond among players, but the outcome is usually the opposite.

“Hazing is an act of power that makes people feel vulnerable, intimidated and often humiliated and silenced,” he said.

Still, Skuce said it was a positive sign to see police confirm that a youth from the Nova Scotia hockey team had come forward to complain after the hazing in October.

“Maybe this is the thin edge of the wedge, where people are now saying, `No, I need to come forward and I need to put this into the public realm.”

Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of his hockey coach, Graham James, said the response from those involved in hockey has demonstrated a deeper understanding of what is at stake for Canada’s game.

“The hockey world is reacting exactly as it should right now,” Gilhooly said in an interview. “Everyone is saying this is unacceptable. The hockey community is much better now than it was back when I went through what I went though.”

Still some heavy lifting left to do, lawyer says

Gilhooly agreed with Skuce’s assessment about the young victim’s decision to come forward so soon after the alleged sexual assaults.

“We’re in an environment now where the kids who play hockey are taught that if you see something wrong, come forward and talk to people about it, and you will be believed and supported,” he said.

“I guarantee you there is far less hazing taking place in 2026 than there were back in 1976.”

But Gilhooly was quick to add that hazing in hockey is still a problem.

“The problem is hockey culture doesn’t change any more quickly than culture itself,” he said. “It reminds us of all of the heavy lifting we still have to do.”

Michael Kehler, research chair of Masculinities Studies at the University of Calgary, called attention to a recent Hockey Canada report that showed the governing body received 17 complaints about hazing between July 2024 and June 2025.

Hockey complaints

“Hazing and those kinds of rituals create conditions where boys can exercise power over others they can dominate others, they can objectify others,” Kehler said.

“Hockey Canada has this responsibility to shift that culture, to change the rules in those spaces so that hazing incidents aren’t seen as an entry into manhood.”

The Hockey Canada report said there were also 119 complaints citing physical abuse, and 96 were described as sexual maltreatment, which include physical or psychological maltreatment of a sexual nature, including social media harassment, sexually based comments, grooming and physical sexual maltreatment.

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