Tonight:

He united and divided. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is dead -- leaving a complicated legacy in Latin America, and in the country he dominated for years.

Taking on Bell. A man in Yellowknife sues the telecom company for charging him for nine-one-one service -- even though the emergency number doesn't even exist in most of Canada's North.

Over the top. Within mere decades, a world-renowned geographer says ships won't have to go around the North Pole -- they'll be able to sail right through it.

Power struggle. As electricity prices rise to insupportable levels in Bulgaria, the protests get more and more desperate -- to the point where some demonstrators are immolating themselves.

No man is an island -- but six islands are a man's. The emir of Qatar visits Greece and picks up some baklava and some nice olives -- oh, and a half-dozen big, fancy rocks sticking out of the Ionian Sea.

And...grunt work. To help a baby gorilla who was rejected by her mother, workers at the Cincinnati Zoo put on vests of black hair, and learn to walk and talk like giant, hairy primates.

As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that sees the rise of the planet of the ape apers.

He was described as a hero to the poor, and an enemy to the rich. Among many, many other descriptions.

As you've likely heard on the news, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died this afternoon, following a bout with an undisclosed form of cancer. He was 58.

First coming to office in 1998, Mr. Chavez launched what he called a "revolution", and appropriated the oil holdings of most of the American oil companies in Venezuela. Following in the footsteps of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, he became the main antagonist of the United States in the region.

In his fourteen years in power, Mr. Chavez built a new socialist constitution, and allied himself with Castro and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua against what he described as American imperialism. But he was also criticized as a harsh leader who built the apparatus of dictatorship into his regime.

Robert Bottome is the editor of the journal Ven Economy, in Caracas. We reached him there.

A recording of a California emergency services call has people across the United States furious -- and talking about reforming their retirement home industry.

The incident took place last Tuesday. An eighty-seven-year-old woman named Lorraine Bayless lost consciousness at an assisted living facility in Bakersfield. Someone grabbed a cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. Here's what an excerpt of what happened next, for the record.

Imagine a ship voyage from Europe to Asia where the halfway point meant a change of direction from due north to due south -- without altering course.

A prominent geographer says that a direct route from Scandinavia to the Bering Strait straight across the North Pole will be a reality -- within just a few decades.

Laurence C. Smith is a professor at U-C-L-A and author of the book The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future. We reached him in Los Angeles.

There's no cable, and no free snacks -- but it's still one of the sweetest babysitting gigs ever.

The people of Cincinnati -- and now, people the world over -- are offering up their services to the Cincinnati Zoo. The job in question is hanging out with a five-week-old baby gorilla named Gladys.

Gladys the gorilla moved to Cincinnati almost three weeks ago, after it was clear that her mother was having a hard time adjusting to her new role. Fortunately for little Gladys, the zoo's primate team is well-versed in the ways of the gorilla. Unfortunately for you and me, it doesn't look like the zoo needs any extra help in the babysitting department.

We reached Ron Evans -- the head of the primate team at the Cincinnati Zoo -- in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It was a seventy-five cent cellphone charge that most of us would simply ignore -- or maybe grumble about, and then forget.

But for one Yellowknife man, it became a matter of principle.

The charge was for 9-1-1 service. Except that the emergency number doesn't even exist in most of Canada's North.

So James Anderson launched a class action legal battle -- a battle that's lasted years, and, this week, has finally landed him face to face with representatives of Bell Canada in a Yellowknife court room.

We reached him outside that courtroom this afternoon.

Political activist, grassroots organizer, and tireless volunteer.

Nick Ternette of Winnipeg dedicated much of his life to the fight for fair treatment and justice for those less fortunate. He ran for elected office twenty times, for everything from school trustee to mayor. He never won -- but he was always quick to say the victory was in the struggle.

Mr. Ternette died in hospital early yesterday morning at the age of sixty-eight.

Four years ago, he became gravely ill with cancer, losing both legs to amputation from a massive infection. But Nick Ternette continued his work -- and his protests-- from his wheelchair.

In 2010 he delivered his final speech in council chambers. Here are some of his farewell words, for the record:

Dateline: Olympia, Washington.Mark Twain once wrote, "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."

That is a joke about bicycles.

Washington State Representative Ed Orcutt once wrote, "...you claim it is environmentally friendly to ride a bike. But if I am not mistaken, a cyclist has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride."

That sounds like a joke about bicycles. But it isn't.

That's an excerpt from an actual email sent by an actual Washington State Representative, Ed Orcutt -- defending a proposed new tax on bicycles that cost over five hundred dollars.

The email was sent to Dale Carlson, owner of a Tacoma bike shop. Mr. Carlson had sent Mr. Orcutt and other members of the State Transportation Committee an email requesting they reconsider the tax.

Unfortunately for Mr. Orcutt, his email made it onto the Internet. And the outcry prompted him to reconsider his remarks.

Yesterday, he sent an email to his constituents. He wrote, quote, "My point was that by not driving a car, a cyclist was not necessarily having a zero-carbon footprint. In looking back, it was not a point worthy of even mentioning, so I apologize."

Unquote.

I wonder how much carbon dioxide is generated by back-pedalling.

You know, it's so hard to find a good summer home. I mean, I can't tell you how long I had to wait for a decent spot to open up at the KOA.

The emir of Qatar knows what I'm talking about. It took Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani a year-and-a-half to secure his latest vacation hideaway -- a string of six Greek islands he just bought.

Ioannis Kassianos will be one of those welcoming one of the world's richest men to the neighbourhood. He's the mayor of Ithica, which oversees the islands. We reached him at home.

In this rare case, I'm betting they weren't prepared.

Today, the Boy Scouts of America fell victim to someone else's idea of a good turn: Carly Rae Jepsen -- the B.C. pop star best known for the song "Call Me Maybe", which isn't so much an earworm as an ear python -- announced she would not be playing at this year's National Jamboree.

On Twitter, she wrote: "As an artist who believes in equality for all people, I will not be participating in the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree this summer. I always have and will continue to support the LGBT community on a global level...and stay informed on the ever-changing landscape in the ongoing battle for gay rights in this country and across the globe."

What she's tweeting about there is the Boy Scouts' ban on gay members. The policy has attracted a lot of attention lately, and become a real headache for the organization.

In February, the Boy Scouts were expected to make a decision as to whether to change that policy -- but instead, they chose to put any such decision off until May.

And that failure to address the policy has now cost them one major Jamboree performer. And it may cost them another: last Friday, the band Train announced it would only play if the ban on gay members is reversed.

According to Robert Baden-Powell's original Scout Law, "A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances." But this year, when their Jamboree rolls around, they may not have any actual music to smile and whistle along to.

We'll send this out to this disappointed Scouts. This is Carly Rae Jepsen, with "Tonight I'm Getting Over You".

It's not a unfamiliar story by any means. But that doesn't make it any easier to hear.

Yesterday, three fish plants in Newfoundland were abruptly closed. The processing plants were in Hant's Harbour, Jackson's Arm and Salvage, and all were owned by P. Janes and Sons. Three hundred people are now out of work.

Another company says it may be able to employ some of the workers, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

CBC's Dave Zelser spoke with two plant workers in the small town of Salvage, Newfoundland. Here's their reaction to the news.

Over the last month, Bulgaria's political establishment has been rocked by street protests.

In more than twenty cities, tens of thousands have expressed outrage over ballooning electricity bills -- which now eat up a third of many Bulgarians' monthly income.

The turmoil has led to the resignation of the Prime Minister. And some protesters have made the ultimate declaration of their opposition -- self-immolation.

One person who set himself on fire died yesterday in hospital.

Nikolai Tihov is a reporter with Darik Radio. We reached him in Sofia.

It's been a year since French photographer Remi Ochlik was killed while covering the conflict in Syria.

Mr. Ochlik was one of seventeen journalists killed in Syria last year. He was an award-winning photojournalist who covered the Arab uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Shortly after he arrived in Syria last February, the house he was in was hit by a rocket. Mr. Ochlik died alongside American reporter Marie Colvin.

To mark the anniversary of his death, Remi Ochlik's girlfriend, Emilie Blachere, wrote a love letter to him. Here is Emilie Blachere, reading the letter for BBC Radio this past weekend.

When you think of poverty and homelessness in this country, it's the big cities that come to mind -- places like downtown Toronto, or Vancouver's Downtown East Side.

But activists in Victoria have uncovered alarming new information about the deaths of homeless and impoverished people in that city. And the research has spurred calls for a coroner's investigation.

Yianni Pappas-Acreman is with the University of Victoria's Poverty Law Club. We reached him in Victoria.

Lots of us get a bit antsy when we hear from the landlord. But if you live in Saskatchewan these days, a call or letter from the owner of your building can be downright nerve-racking.

That's because the economy is booming, the vacancy rate is low and -- because of recent changes made by the province -- landlords can jack up the rent by any amount they want, as long as they give six months notice.

So when the building where Donna Kerr has rented an apartment for the last thirty-one years was recently purchased by a Calgary company, she was wary. But, as she explained to CBC Regina's Sheila Coles today, she still wasn't prepared for what happened.

She is a Nashville icon of the same stature as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, and her work paved the way for countless female singers -- in both country and pop.

Fifty years ago today, a small plane carrying Patsy Cline crashed in a Tennessee forest, and the world lost a talent too soon.

But she wasn't too soon forgotten.

As a female singer in a male-dominated industry, she racked up an impressive list of firsts. She was the first female country singer to headline her own show at the Grand Ole' Opry. She was the first country female singer to headline her own show at Carnegie Hall. She's still considered, according to Rolling Stone magazine, to be the finest female country singer of all time.

And she accomplished all of that before she was thirty, when she was killed, on her way home from performing in a benefit concert for the family of disc jockey Cactus Jack McCall, who himself had been killed in a car accident.

Patsy Cline, was, of course, more than a country singer. She was the first of many country singers who was able to cross over and become a top pop-music singer, too.

Songs like "Walkin' After Midnight" and "She's Got You" and "I Fall to Pieces," are songs that were not only huge "crossover" hits when they were released, but remain so today, half a century later.

And she achieved it all without acting outrageously, wearing skintight suits, or even using autotune. Just with her natural, beautiful contralto voice.

Crazy, eh?