Culture Watch

Margaret Cullison writes: We both enjoyed the few short hours it took to create a beautiful frosted cake for granddaughter Savannah to take home to surprise her mother. The recipe we used is from Marion Cunningham’s Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 1990 Edition, and is ideal for a child’s first effort at making a birthday cake for someone special. Katie likes to experiment with recipes, such as adding cinnamon to chocolate brownies or lavender to sugar cookies. She and Luke watched the Master Chef Junior show and realized that they have a medium for learning to cook that encourages their creativity. more »

Ferida Wolff writes: Is our tree of life starting to weaken? We seemed strong until the corona virus began playing havoc with us. It is hard to see the bright side of things right now but I try to focus on the positives: a neighbor offering to shop for me, fellow walkers saying hello but carefully avoiding close contact, having a snack virtually with my grandchildren. Small things but they help to keep the positive in view. I’m looking forward to a season of healing, whenever that comes about.     more »

Social media posts falsely claim that federal payments from the COVID-19 stimulus package could reduce taxpayers’ future refunds. The Internal Revenue Service says the payment “will not reduce your refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2020 tax return next year.” Available data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths contradicts President Donald Trump’s recent claim that “the United States has achieved a significant lower mortality rate than almost all other countries.” As of April 16, there were at least 90 countries with a lower case fatality rate than the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.MORE .... more »

Announcing its intent to introduce the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses. The program will seek to provide loans, including forgivable loans, to commercial property owners who in turn will lower or forgo the rent of small businesses for the months of April (retroactive), May, and June. Implementation of the program will require a partnership between the federal government and provincial and territorial governments, which are responsible for property owner-tenant relationships. We are working with the provinces and territories to increase rent support for businesses that are most impacted by the pandemic and we will have more details to share soon. “Canadians have been there for each other. When we get into difficult situations, we lean on each other,” he said. “We’re in one of the best countries in the world and we’re going to make sure no one goes through this alone.” more »