#45: MOTHERING FIGHTS 👊

👩‍❤️‍👨 DATING - Sudbury mom hits daughter’s boyfriend with baseball bat after he breaks into home

🚓 CRIME - Sunderland man arrested for stealing flamingo from Las Vegas hotel

⚜️ CULTURE - Quebec sends undercover agents into retail stores to observe what language they’re greeted in

Good morning.

I have not seen the new erotic thriller, Wuthering Heights. But I have read it, and I can tell you it is neither erotic nor thrilling—at least not for a man of my tastes/sexual orientation.

That’s not to say I didn’t like it; I did. And I would read it again.

It’s a menacing tale of forbidden love in which the rich girl falls for her problematic adopted-gypsy brother and endures years of persecution for it. Her family hates the boy and he hates them. And when he grows up he does everything in his power to destroy said family.

Persecuted love is, by far, the most compelling kind of love—which must be the reason why I was so captivated by a story this week out of Sudbury.

Like Wuthering Heights, it involves a bad-boy love interest whom a family (and even the law) just can’t seem to get rid of…

For your convenience, it is the first story below.

Enjoy.

-Peter

⌛️ Today’s read is 3 minutes long.

🎲 WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

▼ 50% chance a province will schedule a referendum to leave Canada this year (-12% this week).

▼ 1% chance Canada will strike Iran by March 31 (-2% this week).

▲ 35% chance Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry get engaged this year (+6% this week).

▼ 33% chance Canada enters a recession this year (-10% this month).

*Odds are based on yes/no betting activity on Polymarket.

A Sudbury woman attacked her daughter’s boyfriend last summer with a baseball bat after the man barged into the family’s house demanding to see his sweetheart.

Last week, the man was sentenced to 60 days in jail plus 18 months of probation for assaulting his girlfriend’s dad and refusing to follow court orders that forbade him from seeing his girlfriend.

Ayden Martin, 19, had been dating a girl for about a year last winter when he received two court orders not to visit her home (the reasons for which were not publicly disclosed).

Around 5 AM on March 5, 2025, Martin broke into the home and punched his girlfriend’s dad multiple times before being taken down by police.

Then, on Aug. 21, the girlfriend’s mother called police to report that Martin had returned and was “screaming” for his girlfriend. To ward him off, the mother hit Martin with a baseball bat.

Martin was arrested again and later released.

Two months ago, Martin and his girlfriend got into an argument at another house in Sudbury.

Police were called and they arrested Martin again. This time they didn’t release him.

“In a relationship, two people have to love one another,” Ontario Court Justice Tanya Farkouh Martin told the hotheaded boyfriend. “She may not want to be around you, and you have to accept that. You have a lot to learn.”

Martin began crying in court.

“I’m not a monster,” he said through tears. “I’m not that guy. I’m sorry it happened.”

In the future, Martin is not allowed to have any contact with his girlfriend unless she agrees. He also must give police a DNA sample.

_{Source: The Sudbury Star}

A Sunderland man was arrested last week after stealing a flamingo from a Las Vegas hotel’s wildlife habitat and carrying it up to his room.

“I’m taking it home,” said Mitchell Grant Fairbarn after grabbing the bird at around 5 AM on March 3, according to investigators.

Las Vegas police say security-camera footage and videos found on Fairbarn’s cellphone showed him entering the habitat area of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, grabbing a flamingo, and pulling it to the ground.

He held the bird down as it tried to escape and later took a photo of it with his cellphone.

That flamingo escaped and swam away, but he grabbed another one seven minutes later.

Police say Fairbarn waded into a pool of water and chased several birds before nabbing one and dragging it by its legs and neck out of the habitat.

He wrapped the bird in his grey t-shirt and took it on an elevator ride up to his room on the 14th floor.

Police obtained a search warrant for Fairbarn’s room and entered later that day. They seized items including bedding, blood samples, feathers, clothing, and his cellphone.

“While executing the search warrant in Fairbarn’s room, a large bloody feather along with multiple small pink colored feathers were located,” said police. They later noted that Fairbarn attempted to “pop” the bird’s wing back into place after carrying it up to his room.

Police reviewed multiple videos on Fairbarn’s cellphone. In one video, they said he “uses his right hand to choke the flamingo by the neck.”

“The animal screams and cries, but Fairbarn holds it tighter and brings it down to the ground.”

When questioned, Fairbarn allegedly told police he’d been drinking when he entered the habitat on the casino floor. Police say he told them there were “no excuses” for his actions and that he believed he was helping the bird by trying to pop its wing back in place.

Caesars Entertainment, the company that owns the hotel, says it will be “pursuing charges against [Fairbarn] to the fullest extent possible.”

“Our beloved birds, including Peachy, who was cruelly taken from the habitat, are currently in the care of dedicated veterinarians and our extraordinary Flamingo animal care team,” the company said.

Fairbarn is charged with four counts of Willful/Malicious Torture/Maim/Kill an Animal.

The incident comes after multiple Las Vegas casinos launched marketing campaigns aimed at luring Canadian tourists back to the city following a 20% drop in Canadian visitors reported in 2025 compared to 2024.

_{Source: CTV News}

The Quebec government is sending undercover language inspectors into nearly 8,000 businesses this year to observe what langauge retail staff use to greet customers.

The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), an arm of the provincial government tasked with promoting the use of French, says around 7,800 stores, bars and restaurants can expect a visit this year.

Around half of the spot checks will be on businesses in Montreal.

Privately contracted observers will enter stores incognito and write down what language they are greeted in and what language they hear being used to serve other customers.

The goverment conducted a similar survey three years ago which was also aimed at evaluating how available the average Quebec business makes the use of French to its customers.

OQLF spokesperson François Laberge told CBC that the aim of the study is not to penalize the businesses visited, but merely to observe linguistic trends across the province.

The study will be conducted by a private firm at a cost estimated to be around $350,000, according to the Montreal Gazette.