A mother's love
Michelle Dunn once thought her daughter was destined for greatness. Instead, drug addiction battered that promise.
Dunn - who grew up in P.E.I. before moving to Massachusetts - told the story of daughter Alyssa's heroin addiction to the Guardian's Jim Day.
Sadly, Alyssa lost her battle to the addiction on May 21, 2013.
“I know she hated herself in so many ways,’’ says Michelle. "She had a ton of shame.’’
But Alyssa's death spurred her mother to push for real change.
Michelle's efforts have been so effective that she is among the Commonwealth Heroines selected this year by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and state legislators.
Read Day's story about Michelle's journey.
Taking her shot
One throw in February changed Sarah Mitton’s Olympic path and in the process may have been the catalyst that helped her through the doldrums of training in isolation.
The Brooklyn, N.S., shot putter, 24, has been on the rise but was dealing with the pressure of making that Olympic-qualifying throw.
She achieved that standard during her third stop on a tour with her Canadian teammates in Auckland, New Zealand, with a throw that even bested her hero: two-time Olympic and four-time world champion Valerie Adams.
This week she would have been in Montreal looking to cement her place on Athletics Canada’s team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She needed a top three-finish which seemed like a certainty, reports The Chronicle Herald's George Myrer.
Instead she's at home with her parents, where she has been since returning to Canada from the tour Down Under.
Faces of Fertility
Some of them are smiling for the camera, but on many of the faces in the pictures the hurt is visible.
The Faces of Fertility social media campaign documents the stories of people across Newfoundland and Labrador who have been trying to get pregnant for up to seven, eight and nine years.
They’ve had failed treatments, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, emergency surgeries and years-long waits for specialist referrals.
Some have spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to have children and have flown across the country to access services not available in the province.
The Telegram's Juanita Mercer brings you the story of the social media campaign that aims to shed light on these often private struggles.
Protecting our bees
Just about all you need to know about the Varroa mite can be found in part of its scientific name: Destructor, The Telegram's Andrew Robinson reports.
Newfoundland and Labrador beekeepers haven't had to deal with this particular pest before, but their Maritime colleagues have and the introduction of the mites is always a possibility.
"Our biggest threat is not legal importation," Rodney Reid, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association, told Robinson.
"It's about mitigating risks. If somebody currently from Nova Scotia just decided to buy a (nucleus colony) ... they could put it in their car, wrap it up and bring it here, and nobody would be the wiser until somebody notices Varroa."
Read more about Atlantic Canada's buzzing beekeeping industry's hopes and perils.
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