Every week, there are those who inspire us and those who disappoint us. Welcome to Champs ‘n Chumps, a weekly feature in the Star in which we shower praise on our best and lob (virtual) tomatoes at the people who have disappointed us. Plus: scroll to the bottom for the big number that defined the week.
Champ: Canadian sea star researchers
Canadian researchers have solved a mysterious ailment that was killing sea stars.Â
Dreamstime/TNSFive billion sea stars have mysteriously melted away since 2013 and no one knew why until this week, when Canadian researchers identified the bacterial culprit. Their work will help bring the many-armed invertebrates back to the Pacific.
Chump: An unwelcome guest at Veld
An impersonator made an unwelcome appearance at the Veld festival.Â
Sonia Recchia/Getty ImagesThough the Deadmau5 impersonator who last weekend’s Veld festival lost his pants when security tackled him, he maintained a small shred of dignity thanks to his face-covering replica of the DJ’s oversized rodent helmet.
Champ: Shakir Omar
Nearby amenities like Biidaasige Park have helped make Shakir Omar’s Keating Channel Pub popular again.Â
R.J. Johnston/ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ StarThe lengthy renaturalization of Don River nearly drowned Shakir Omar’s Keating Channel Pub in red ink. Happily, the opening of Biidaasige Park and some savvy social media posts have to his one-of-a-kind patio.
Chump: Brazen bike thiefÂ
Noah Rosen, pictured here in 2011, and Suzanne Carlsen were able to recover bikes stolen from their shop, VéloColour.
Tara Walton/ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ StarThe kid who stole high-end bikes from Suzanne Carlsen and Noah Rosen’s cycling shop picked the wrong gears to grind. The found their Surlys for sale on Facebook and got them back — with an apology.
And now, the figure that defined the week:
The big number
2.5
That’s the diameter in micrometers of the smoke particles polluting our air. How big does something have to be to ruin a summer? Think of it this way: The grain of sand in your bathing suit is at least 36 times larger than the smoke particle that, along with several trillions of its friends, has forced us inside week after hazy week. They’re small enough to slip into our bloodstreams, inflaming and irritating as they go. So let’s call it: This is officially Particulate Matter Summer. It may not have the meme cachet of hot girl summer or Brat summer, but it’s more than a vibe — there really is something in the air.
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