CAMPUS:

• The Ontario University Athletics OUA that we here at Radio Western are huge fans of, recently recognized the Mustangs Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Chuck Mathies for his nearly 4 decades of dedication to university athletics. 
• He was the recipient of the J.P.Loosemore Award, for his administrative contributions to University athletics. 
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• Mathies, who will be retiring later this year, has worked in intercollegiate sports for nearly 40 years, spending time at Conestoga College and Ryerson University before coming to Western in 2003. At Western, Chuck Mathies has governed more than 135 OUA championship teams at Western. 
• He has played a leading role in eligibility, taking on the roles of OUA eligibility officer and U SPORTS eligibility committee member for the past eight years. He has also served as host convenor for multiple national championships.
• Mathies has also contributed to facility development on campus, including the Western Student Recreation Centre (WSRC), the turf project, the recent WSRC expansion and the ongoing Alumni Hall revitalization for varsity sports.
  
   
• Adoptive parents are required to fill in a rather unique role. For this reason, countries like Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and the UK offer equal benefits to birth mothers and adoptive parents and caregivers.
• A new report, Time To Attach, proposed by Dr. Carolyn McLeod and her team is looking to place Canada among that list. 
• Dr. McLeod, is a professor in the departments of Philosophy and Women’s Studies & Feminist Research. 
• Her report argues that adopted children often need more time forming secure attachments to their new parents because of the youngsters’ history of disrupted family relationships. 
• In her study, her team interviewed 1000 parents and caregivers who unanimously supported her proposed idea of attachment leave. 
• A majority of respondents also said their child had academic, physical and mental-health needs that would have benefited from their having more time with a parent at home.
• The group put its case before Members of Parliament and policy-makers in February, and again at the end of April. 
• The estimated annual cost of providing attachment leave would be $12 million-$20 million, based on about 2,300 adoptions in Canada each year.
• McLeod and her group are preparing another report that identifies the savings, in forgone costs of mental-health counselling and educational supports, additional leave time could bring. 
• Adoptive parents, like birth parents, receive parental leave of as much as 35 weeks at 55 per cent of their weekly earnings, or  61 weeks at 35 per cent of earnings. Women who give birth are also entitled to an additional 15 weeks of maternity benefits at 55 percent of earnings.

LOCAL:

• Blackfriars Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic for about the next six weeks to complete finishing touches on the bridge, which underwent extensive refurbishing last year. 
• The unfinished projects include painting, additional signage, and completing construction on a sitting area near the bridge.  
• The closure will impact the road only. The sidewalk on the south side will be open for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists to cross the river.
• Meanwhile, the Thames Valley Parkway will remain open on the east side of the river, while the west side will have portions closed as construction continues.

SPORTS:

• Last night’s Blue jays vs RedSox went down for Toronto 6-5 in 13. 
• This loss came despite a homerun from Vladimir Guerrero Jr in the fourth innings. Guerrero has hit his first five homers in an eight-day span. 
• The series finale will be today afternoon at 12:30pm. Veteran left-hander Clayton Richard will make his first start with the Toronto Blue Jays in Thursday’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox.

WEATHER:

• This Thursday started off on a cloudy dark note, and the thunderstorms are expected to continue well into the evening. 
• The sky should clear up by tomorrow afternoon, perfect for the London Majors baseball game at Labatt Park, first pitch 7:35pm. 
• Today's low of 10 is behind us, and we’ll see a mighty high of 24 in the afternoon.