The deadly cost of expanding booze sales

Plus, surviving back-to-school shopping season and a space mission gone awry [The Star] First Up [By Andrew Joe Potter] By Andrew Joe Potter Good morning. [A Canadian has won the 2024 Air Guitar World Championships]( undoubtedly proving his high school teachers wrong (or right). Here’s the latest. MUST READS Steve Russell/Toronto Star Health [The hidden cost of our increasingly convenient access to alcohol]( Starting Sept. 5, Ontarians can buy beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails at convenience stores. It’s the largest expansion of alcohol availability in the province in nearly a century — and experts tell Megan Ogilvie it will likely cause cascading health and social harms, including deaths. Each standard drink represents a $0.34 burden on taxpayers, one investigator estimates. [Ontario needs to plan ahead for what could be a massive hangover](. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press Politics [Behind the worrisome rise in political apathy in Canada]( According to new polling data, the number of Canadians who are not satisfied with democracy is higher than any point since 1997. Turned off by politicians’ toxic name-calling and growing distrust in both government and the media, some tell Raisa Patel they still plan to vote, even if they don’t expect politics to really affect their lives. [Still, there is reason for some optimism that belief in Canadian democracy isn’t dead](. Robert Markowitz/NASA/TNS Space [Two astronauts will be stuck in space months beyond their planned mission]( It was only supposed to be a weeklong test for embattled Boeing. Now, NASA has ruled that two Americans must remain in space until a SpaceX capsule can safely retrieve them from the International Space Station in February. The astronauts have learned the hard way what your average holidaymaker already knew: [flying on a Boeing craft these days can neither be safe nor routine](. Dreamstime Personal Finance [How to cut hundreds from your back-to-school shopping bill]( According to one recent survey, average parents will spend a whopping $743 this year as part of the annual back-to-school shopping bonanza. Thanks to social media, it’s easy to feel the pressure to buy new things, Lora Grady reports. [Here are some more practical strategies to lower your shopping bill](. Prime Videio Culture [Hollywood is subverting the old ‘cougar’ stereotype]( For decades, audiences have been seduced by a deceptively scandalous trope: the older, confident woman preying on younger, naive men. Recently, however, movies like the Anna Hathaway-starring “The Idea of You” and the forthcoming new entry into the “Bridget Jones” series are subverting the “cougar,” writes Sarah Laing. [Though still taboo, society no longer feels it can vilify women for dating younger](. UP CLOSE Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press Bowden Francis had never pitched more than seven innings or 95 pitches in a big-league game — until flirting with a rare no-hitter yesterday, Gregor Chisholm writes. In a tough Blue Jays season, [the 28-year-old has unexpectedly authored moments of excitement](. WATCH THIS Warner Bros. Cinephiles have a surprisingly tense new thriller to tide them over. With Channing Tatum starring as a suspicious tech billionaire in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Peter Howell writes that [“Blink Twice” is worth experiencing with eyes wide open](. Thanks for reading. If you’ve become politically apathetic, you can send, I dunno, whatever to the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_1070). The weekday crew will see you back here tomorrow. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. [Unsubscribe From This Newsletter]( [Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts]( [View in Browser]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](