WHITEHORSE — The federal government has announced $20 million in funding aimed at reducing diesel reliance in Canada’s rural and remote Indigenous communities but experts say challenges remain.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the money will help ensure isolated communities have the capacity to develop their own solutions led by local people as they move toward renewable sources of energy.

“Once they have their plans they can apply for funding,” Sohi said Wednesday.

An all-Indigenous panel will select up to 15 communities to receive support and develop their own energy plans over the next three years, the department says in a release.

Watch: N.W.T. community is solar-powered in the summer

Nicholas Mercer, a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo and an expert on remote off-grid communities throughout Canada, said developing local expertise to transition off the fuel used for electricity and heating is the way to go.

“I just think there has not been enough money put into the program to get the communities off diesel,”‘ he said.

In 2015, a Senate committee said the northern electricity systems are “aging, under performing and at capacity” but getting off diesel is not quick or easy.

Mercer said installing a diesel generator costs about $1,500 per kilowatt but a wind turbine or a solar panel may cost anywhere from $7,000 to $8,000.

He said the diesel-produced cost is 90 cents per kilowatt hour in Newfoundland and Labrador but wind energy would cost less than 25 cents a kilowatt hour.

‘Diesel is deeply embedded in the communities’

“The problem is the upfront costs for diesel are significantly less expensive than the upfront costs for renewable energy technologies,” Mercer said. “So, renewables are cost competitive in the long term, you’re not buying any more fuel but it’s still really difficult to come up with upfront capital.”

There’s also a historical dependence on diesel because it’s the only form of power source many of the communities have known and jobs are linked to it, he said.

“Diesel is deeply embedded in the communities. It’s been around for about 50 or 60 or 70 years,” he said.

Dylan Heerema, a member of the Pembina Institute’s remote communities team, said providing energy in the region comes with lots of challenges.

“The biggest one is the remoteness and construction and everything is more expensive. It’s difficult to step projects off the ground,” he said.

Some communities have managed a partial transition using both diesel and a form of renewable energy, which produces less pollution.

Great Bear Lake leading the way

Three years ago, the Dene hamlet of about 150 people north of Great Bear Lake became the first in the North to replace its near-derelict diesel generator with a combination of diesel, batteries and a solar array capable of generating 160 kilowatts.

Heerema said those communities had local as well federal support.

Even as diesel generators grow old, Heerema said they will continue to be an important source of backup power in many communities.

“It’s definitely going to take a number of years for all of Canada’s communities to transition off of diesel,” Heerema said. “We’re talking about a multi-year effort and it will require both public and private investment.”

By Hina Alam in Vancouver

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Mississippi 5A state champion Neshoba Central remained atop the USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 poll.

The (34-0) Rockets wrapped a perfect season with their 39th-straight win, beating Pearl River Center, 6-2, back on May 11 to claim a sixth-straight state crown. They have won 55 of their last 56 games.

The three teams immediately below them — Madison (22-0) at No. 2, third-ranked Katy (38-1) and No. 4 Keller (31-2-1) — also remained the same, while Los Alamitos (25-2), Hamilton (33-2) and Keystone (30-0) jumped up a spot apiece this week. Meanwhile, Hurricane (18-1), Tualatin (25-0) and East Carter (34-0) each moved up two places to round out the top 10.

Shawnee Heights (22-0), Scott County (30-2) and Smyrna (17-1) joined the lower third of the rankings this week at Nos. 19, 20 and 24, respectively.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to compile the USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25.

USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 Poll – May 24, 2018

Rank

Team

2018 Record

Previous

1

Neshoba Central (Miss.)

34-0

1

2

Madison (Va.)

22-0

2

3

Katy (Texas)

38-1

3

4

Keller (Texas)

31-2-1

4

5

Los Alamitos (Calif.)

25-2

6

6

Hamilton (Ariz.)

33-2

7

7

Keystone (Ohio)

30-0

8

8

Hurricane (W. Va.)

18-1

10

9

Tualatin (Ore.)

25-0

11

10

East Carter (Ky.)

34-0

12

11

Donovan Catholic (N.J.)

24-0

13

12

Center Grove (Ind.)

28-1

14

13

Eagle (Idaho)

28-2-1

5

14

Norco (Calif.)

25-3

15

15

Freedom (Calif.)

20-1

16

16

Clovis (Calif.)

29-2

19

17

Huntingtown (Md.)

16-0

20

18

Milford (Mass.)

16-0

21

19

Shawnee Heights (Kan.)

22-0

NR

20

Scott County (Ky.)

30-2

NR

21

New Palestine (Ind.)

24-1

25

22

Orange Lutheran (Calif.)

26-5

17

23

Jackson (Wash.)

21-1

24

24

Smyrna (Del.)

17-1

NR

25

Male (Ky.)

26-5-1

23

Dropped out: Hoover (Ala.), Marist (Ill.), Spanish Fork (Utah),

TORONTO — Ontario’s social services minister opened the door Thursday to giving more funding to children with more severe autism, which an advocacy group described as a “huge concession” in the province’s controversial plan.

The new program announced last month by Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod sparked waves of protests by parents, who said the fact that the funding wouldn’t be needs based — instead, dependent only on age and family income — would mean kids would be left without access to the levels of therapy they need.

MacLeod said Thursday that the past month has been “incredibly emotional” for families, and she has heard their concerns.

“Parents were right when they said that autism is a spectrum and that there are different needs for children on the spectrum,” she said. “So for the next few months I’ll take their input to best assess how we better support those with complex needs and provide additional supports for them.”

Laura Kirby-McIntosh, the president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said the devil will be in the details, but called the news a very positive development.

“Oh my God, she heard us,” Kirby-McIntosh said. “I heard a commitment to move to a system that is needs-based and that doesn’t simply give everybody the same amount regardless of need, so that’s a huge concession.”

After a month of sustained protests, emotional outbursts from parents observing question period, and the minister receiving threats — one person was charged by Ottawa police — this announcement takes the temperature down, Kirby-McIntosh said.

MacLeod, until now, had been firm in her message that the plan would go ahead as is, and that there was no room to provide additional funding. Next year’s budget will be at least $331 million, and she said Thursday that she was prepared to put more money into the program to provide the new needs-based supports, but couldn’t say yet how much more.

“We’re prepared to go further to support those enhancements,” she said.

MacLeod also announced she is eliminating income testing for the program, so all kids under six diagnosed as on the spectrum will receive $20,000 and kids over six will receive $5,000. The plan as originally designed would only give those maximum amounts to families making under $55,000.

Intensive therapy can cost up to $80,000 a year and many parents with kids already in government-funded therapy have said they will be unable to cover the difference to keep their kids in full-time therapy.

Kids currently receiving government-funded therapy will have their contracts extended by six months, MacLeod said.

“While we empathize with them, our priority has been and always will be to eliminate the wait list,” she said. The government has said there are 23,000 kids on the wait list.

Families had also been asking for more services to qualify under the program and MacLeod said Thursday that speech language pathology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy will now be included.

NDP critic Monique Taylor criticized the announcement of new consultations with parents less than two weeks before the plan starts April 1.

“They should have done the work before they made the announcement and put the policy in place,” she said. “They’ve put families in chaos for the last month and a half for no reason.”

Michelle Costa has been paying out of pocket for therapy for her five-year-old son, who has been on the waiting list for nearly two years. She said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the changes, but giving kids over six a smaller amount of money than younger children still amounts to an age cut-off.

“Until that major issue is addressed I think people will still remain worried,” she said.

Kristen Ellison, whose eight-year-old son is currently in government-funded therapy, said the additional six months is a relief. She said she still isn’t sure she trusts MacLeod to introduce needs-based changes, but wants to work with her on them.

“If she were to respond to my email or take my call and say, ‘Kristen, I’d love to have you come to the table. I want to understand families better,’ I would be there in a heartbeat,” Ellison said.

Earlier On HuffPost:

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s coroner’s service has released its report into the Humboldt Broncos bus crash and it calls for tougher enforcement of trucking rules and mandatory seatbelts on highway buses.

The office has made recommendations to six different government agencies after reviewing the crash.

The coroner also says the Ministry of Highways should review its policy on signs at intersections and Saskatchewan Government Insurance should implement mandatory truck-driver training.

There is a recommendation that the chief coroner create a mass fatality plan and that the Saskatchewan Health Authority review how it identifies the dead and injured in such an event.

Watch: Bus crash victim’s father’s biggest hope is to change attitudes. Story continues below.

Sixteen people were killed and 13 others were injured in last April’s collision.

A semi-truck barrelled through a stop sign at a rural intersection and was struck by the Broncos hockey bus.

The report lists the deaths as accidental and the chief coroner is not calling for an public inquest.

In December, the Saskatchewan government announced it will make training mandatory for semi-truck drivers starting in March. Drivers seeking a Class 1 commercial licence will have to undergo at least 121 1/2 hours of training.

Transport Canada announced in June that the department will require all newly built highway buses to have seatbelts by September 2020. Some charter bus companies say many new vehicles already have seatbelts, although there is no way to ensure passengers are wearing them

OKLAHOMA CITY — All-Tournament Team selection Madison Glaubke hit a booming two-run homer and Most Outstanding Player Hanna Hull took things from there, as Virginia Wesleyan University captured its second-straight NCAA Division III national championship on Monday at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.

Glaubke had two hits, and two-time NFCA All-American Hull pitched an one-hitter, to fuel the Marlins’ 3-1 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the decisive third game of the best-of-three championship series.

Hull, who also won Most Outstanding Player honors last season, finished the finals in Oklahoma City with 60 strikeouts over just 41 innings and six starts. She threw 418 of her 643 pitches at the tournament for strikes, and recorded a no-hitter, two one-hitters and a three-hitter. Hull allowed just four hits over her first three starts and 21 innings for the (55-3) Marlins at the eight-team event.

The win broke Virginia Wesleyan’s own NCAA Division III record for wins in a season, after the Marlins posted 54 victories during last year’s title run.

Glaubke’s blast to left in the bottom of the first scored Kiersten Richardson, who had led off the inning with a walk. Three-time All-American and fellow All-Tournament Team selection Cassetty Howerin added an insurance run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly that scored Richardson, who had walked, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Glaubke’s single to center.

But it was Illinois Wesleyan (39-13-1) who jumped in front first, getting on the scoreboard in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit. All-Tournament Team selection Jillian Runyon was hit by a pitch, stole second, and took third on Sydney Alery’s groundout. She scored on a wild pitch following All-American and fellow All-Tournament Team choice Sam Berghoff’s walk.

The Titans’ Bree Walker earned All-Tournament Team honors after scattering six hits over the first five innings of Tuesday’s finale, which followed up a stellar Monday, in which she pitched all eight innings of game two for Illinois Wesleyan and came on in relief of All-American Ally Wiegand in the first contest.

After dropping the opening game of the best-of-three championship series, 6-1, on Monday, the Titans forced a winner-take-all third contest by winning game two, 5-4 in eight innings, later in the day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the fifth consecutive year, Byron Nelson High School (Texas), under the direction of Kathy Schoettle, posted the top GPA (4.518) in the high school weighted category, while Urbana University (NCAA DII) garnered the overall college GPA with a 3.840 and East Islip (N.Y.) High School (3.918) led the high school unweighted category in the Easton / NFCA Top 10 Academic Team rankings for the 2017-18 school year. Individually, 6,280 softball players earned Easton / NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors.

The rankings and honors recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across the Association’s membership categories. NCAA Division III led the way with 1,600 student-athletes earning a 3.5 grade-point average or higher for 2017-18. NCAA Division I and Division II followed with 1,311 and 1,026 honorees. High School weighted and High School unweighted earned 743 and 589 distinctions. Two-year colleges amassed 553 recipients and NAIA totaled 456.

Grand Canyon University (3.790) and Otterbein University (3.751) led NCAA Division I & III, while Spring Arbor (3.695) posted the top NAIA mark and Iowa Western Community College set the two-year college standard with a 3.700 GPA.

2017-18 Scholar-Athletes | 2017-18 Academic Teams

NCAA Division I 
1. Grand Canyon– 3.790; 2. Northern Kentucky- 3.670; 3. Charlotte- 3.649; 4. SIUE- 3.616; t5. Sam Houston State- 3.598; t5. Robert Morris- 3.598; 7. Southern Illinois- 3.596; 8. Alabama- 3.590; 9. Detroit Mercy- 3.571; 10. DePaul- 3.569.

NCAA Division II 
1. Urbana- 3.840; 2. Upper Iowa- 3.717; 3. Bridgeport- 3.713; 4. California (Pa.)- 3.684; 5. Rockhurst- 3.674; 6. Illinois Springfield- 3.673; 7. Arkansas-Monticello- 3.665; 8. Southeastern Oklahoma- 3.660; 9. Grand Valley- 3.630; 10. McKendree- 3.627.

NCAA Division III 
1. Otterbein- 3.751; 2. Johnson & Wales- 3.720; 3. Penn State Brandywine- 3.680; 4. MIT- 3.670; 5. Stevens Tech- 3.633; 6. Endicott- 3.615; 7. Saint Mary’s (Ind.)- 3.611; 8. Nebraska Wesleyan- 3.610; 9. Bethel (Minn.)- 3.606; t10. Suffolk- 3.596; t10. Ithaca- 3.596.

NAIA 
1. Spring Arbor- 3.695; 2. Central Methodist- 3.626; 3. USCB- 3.594; 4. Siena Heights- 3.591; 5. Williams Woods- 3.555; 6. St. Ambrose- 3.549; 7. Vanguard- 3.548; 8. Hannibal-LaGrange- 3.546; 9. Baker- 3.543; 10. Bellevue (Neb.)- 3.527.

Junior College 
1. Iowa Western CC- 3.700; 2. Southern Union State CC- 3.650; t3. Butler CC- 3.610; t3. College of Southern Idaho- 3.610; 5. Allen CC- 3.590; 6. East Central College- 3.570; 7. East Mississippi CC- 3.561; 8. Seminole State College of Florida- 3.516; 9. Northeast Mississippi CC 3.493; 10. Northwest Mississippi CC- 3.471.

High School (Unweighted) 
1. East Islip (N.Y.)- 3.918; t2. Pollok Central (Texas)- 3.815; t2. Loogootee Community (Ind.)- 3.815; 4. Rock Creek (Kan.)- 3.812; 5. Silver Lake (Kan.)- 3.810; 6. Topeka-Seaman (Kan.)- 3.796; t7. Central High School of Clay County- 3.785; t7. La Monte (Mo.)- 3.785; 9. Oaks Christian School (Calif.)- 3.771; 10. Milford (Neb.)- 3. 755.

High School (Weighted) 
1. Byron Nelson (Texas)– 4.518; 2. Flower Mound (Texas)- 4.510; 3. Holly Hill Academy (S.C.)- 4.380; 4. Eaton (Texas)- 4.370; 5. Grapevine (Texas)- 4.300; 6. James F. Byrnes (S.C.)- 4.242; 7. River Hill (Md.)- (4.230); 8. Lincoln Southwest (Neb.)- 4.209; 9. Cambridge Christian (Fla.)- 4.129; 10. Olathe North (Kan.)- 4.120.

QUEBEC — The parents of a man behind the deadly Quebec City mosque attack have issued an open letter questioning the severity of the minimum 40-year sentence handed down to their son last week.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 29, received his sentence Friday for killing six men and injuring six others at the Islamic Cultural Centre mosque on Jan. 29, 2017.

His parents, Raymond Bissonnette and Manon Marchand, say in the letter released Monday that the sentence is the harshest imposed in Quebec since the death penalty was abolished in 1976.

They say the Crown’s request for six consecutive life sentences, which would have prevented their son from seeking parole for 150 years and guaranteed that he end his life behind bars, amounted to circumventing the abolition of the death penalty and would terminate all hope of rehabilitation.

Watch: Crown prosecutors and members of Quebec City’s Muslim community react to Bissonnette’s sentence. Story continues below.

Meanwhile, Quebec Superior Court Justice Francois Huot concluded a sentence of 50 years or more would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for the 29-year-old.

Bissonnette’s parents say he suffered psychological and physical bullying during his years in school that had “devastating effects” on his personality.

“If we really want to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, it seems to me that the solution is not to lock someone up forever, but rather try to better understand and prevent bullying, which is a serious societal problem that continues to make victims among our young,” the letter reads.

His parents say people who commit serious crimes should still have the possibility to apply for parole after 25 years — a “glimmer of hope” they say would encourage rehabilitation.

“Unlike other countries, Canada has chosen an open-door policy, welcoming people from all over the world and giving them hope for a second chance in life,” the letter says. “Why deny convicts even the faintest hope?”

Sentence denounced by survivors

Legal experts have said Bissonnette’s sentence is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

However, it has been denounced by survivors of the attack and other Muslim community members.

Boufeldja Benabdallah, president of the mosque that was attacked, said last week that community members were stunned by the decision and felt the judge was more concerned about the dignity of the killer than that of the victims and their families.

Bissonnette pleaded guilty last March to six counts of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder after he walked into the mosque during evening prayers and opened fire. The murder victims were Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Aboubaker Thabti, 44; Azzeddine Soufiane, 57; and Ibrahima Barry, 39.