k.d. lang says she's deliberately staying in the dark about tonight's Ottawa tribute concert in her honor, where Michael Bublé, Jann Arden and Allison Russell are among those set to perform. The National Arts Centre show runs alongside an exhibition of her stagewear.

— via Vancouver Is Awesome, author

A Fort Greene middle school named for trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is opening tuition-free in 2027, after its charter bid failed. It's threading a workaround instead: operating as a "public micro middle school" under NYC's homeschooling rules.

— via Hell Gate, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

With the CDC's vaccine advisory panel tied up in court, medical societies are issuing their own fall shot guidance. Flu vaccines cut hospitalizations in seniors by 31% last year, and a new mRNA option beat standard shots by 27% in one study of adults 50 to 64.

— via Vancouver Is Awesome, author

A Fairview man got 10 years after DEA agents found nearly half a kilogram of meth, hundreds of grams of fentanyl, and loaded handguns in his car and motel room. His criminal record made him a federal "career offender," a status that pushes sentences close to the statutory maximum.

— via Hoodline, Emily Nguyen

United is splitting first class into three fares this fall, and the cheapest one, "base," charges extra for seat selection and blocks refunds or flight changes entirely. The cash-strapped tier still gets the same cabin service, just fewer of the perks that used to come standard with a premium ticket.

— via NY Post, Aurielle Weiss

David Eby is promising to cut gas taxes by up to 30 cents a litre and let regulators cap retail prices outright, a pledge he says could save a two-car Surrey family $100 a month. The plan leans on a now-familiar target: Donald Trump, blamed here for both the trade war and an oil price spike costing B.C. drivers an estimated $865 million.

— via Daily Hive Vancouver, Amir Ali

Sacramento's 61-degree Friday morning won't last: a Heat Advisory kicks in Saturday at 11 a.m. and holds through Monday night, with highs hitting 94 to 100 and barely any overnight relief. Winds stay near calm, skies stay dry through Thursday, so mornings and evenings are the only break from the sun.

— via Hoodline, Sarah Hernandez

Broadway's Tony and Rizzo are bringing their three kids onstage at 54 Below this weekend, including a 6-year-old belting "Grease" numbers minus anything about sex, smoking or driving. Matt Cavenaugh and Jenny Powers built the family cabaret after watching their 11-year-old share a stage with dad in Arkansas.

— via NY Post, Andrea Palladino

RTD will cover the first mile of any Veo scooter or bike ride ending at two Denver stations, starting Oct. 1, no sign-up required. The two-year pilot, born from a grad student's class paper, aims to subsidize more than 40,000 trips.

— via Westword, Hannah Metzger

Carly Rae Jepsen brings her Day and Night Tour to the Orpheum on April 18, 2027, with tickets dropping Oct. 8. The Mission, B.C.-raised pop star also just revealed she once baked Vancouver's "number one best cheesecake" as a barista-turned-pastry-chef before "Call Me Maybe" took over the world.

— via Daily Hive Vancouver, Daniel Chai

San Bruno may let existing smoke shops keep operating for years while banning new ones downtown. Staff warn the phase-out process is legally murky, and Fresno's own crackdown offers a blueprint: 18 months to comply, with totals capped at 49 shops citywide.

— via Hoodline, Nina Singh-Hudson

Body-cam video captures the McDonald's takedown of accused CEO shooter Luigi Mangione, while new details surface in the Cornell gang rape case. Also: an AI-generated victim statement gets a road-rage sentence tossed, and a male escort allegedly bilks a tech widow out of $6 million before bolting to Dubai.

— via NY Post, New York Post Video

A Christian-only auto-repair franchisor turned down a Jewish applicant, and the Fifth Circuit just ruled that's not covered by federal race-bias law. Section 1981 bans racial discrimination in contracts, the court says, but not religious discrimination, even when the applicant is ethnically Jewish too.

— via Volokh Conspiracy (Reason), Eugene Volokh

A year-old Wash Park deli is ditching its name entirely after its original owners quietly sold out to a partner and manager. Also this week: a 40-year-old Chinese spot's replacement surfaces in state filings, and a Bear Valley bakery jumps to the Broadway space Azucar left behind.

— via Westword, Antony Bruno

Twelve upcoming titles from Kingsolver, Schwab, Chambers and more keep popping up across most-anticipated lists from NYT, Kirkus and others. A second batch of under-the-radar picks only hit two or three lists but still earned a spot worth knowing about.

— via Book Riot, S. Zainab Williams

The NHL just launched Spotify audio romances starring real players like Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, written by hockey-romance authors. No actual player romances, Bettman insists, just borrowed tropes to chase fans drawn in by shows like Heated Rivalry.

— via Daily Hive Vancouver, Colton Pankiw

A public appeal Thursday morning, a missing teen found safe hours later. Oakland's Missing Persons Unit handles about 1,500 such cases a year, and the numbers behind this one show most missing kids turn up fast.

— via Hoodline, Tony Ng

A man dragged to his death by an A train at Utica Avenue has exposed the MTA's main subway safety check: a conductor sticking their head out a window to scan 600 feet of train, with no tech backup required by policy.

— via Gothamist, Ramsey Khalifeh

Colorado hikers settled the big trail debates by poll: parking etiquette, right of way, bikes versus walkers and whether to say hello. A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson weighs in, and 70% call smoking on the trail rude.

— via Westword, Kristen Fiore

66 writers, one anthology, and a Florida that refuses to be "weird" or "wild." All This Beauty gathers poems, fiction and essays spanning Gulf beaches, muscadine vines and MLB gamedays, out from University Press of Florida in March 2027.

— via Literary Hub, Literary Hub

Air Canada is killing its Vancouver-Singapore nonstop just shy of three years in, citing weak demand, fuel costs and the grueling 12,818-km haul. The cut, effective Jan. 26, 2027, leaves Canada with no direct link to Changi at all.

— via Daily Hive Vancouver, Kenneth Chan

A former Forever 21 at Atlantic Station is becoming a two-floor plant festival with drag headliners and rare botanical finds from around the world. General admission runs $10, VIP cocktail previews hit $35, and the whole thing is built to merge Atlanta's plant scene with its queer community.

— via Hoodline, Rohit Mehta

Just 29,000 jobs added in September, with unemployment ticking up to 4.2%. July and August gains were also slashed by 60,000, deepening a slump the labor market can't seem to shake.

— via NPR, Scott Horsley

A jury sided with police in Sabrina Toner's excessive force case, while a separate subway death this week has riders across the city on edge.

— via Gothamist, James Ramsay

José Garza skipped a 12-hour Texas House hearing on his own "prosecutorial integrity," leaving a deputy to face a lawmaker who waved a pistol and another who accused the office of "hiding the weenie." The no-show has the House speaker vowing more state oversight of local prosecutors next session.

— via KUT, Andrew Weber