Council to vote on motion to rename park for Kevin Walters

Odeon Park — a nondescript plaza in front of the Burton Cummings Theatre — is one step closer to being renamed in honour of Kevin Walters, a leader in Winnipeg’s live music industry who died in 2014.

At city hall Tuesday, the executive policy committee unanimously carried a motion to redub the 970-square-metre space — a junction at the intersections of Notre Dame Avenue, King and Smith streets that hosts the Burt Block Party in August — as Kevin Walters Plaza. To make the change official, the motion will be brought to the council at large for final approval later this month.

The motion was brought to EPC by Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood councillor Evan Duncan.

“I’ve heard from countless residents, artists and industry leaders across our city who were impacted by Kevin’s profound generosity and vision,” Duncan said in a release. “Naming this plaza in his honour right on the doorstep of ‘The Burt’ will rejuvenate a vital public footprint and create an inclusive gathering place that reflects the soul of Winnipeg’s creative community.”

Tribute to composer Ron Paley pays homage to local jazz leader who’s never wavered

When asked how he kept his big band together for so many years, Duke Ellington famously replied, “You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money.”

While the remark was made half in jest, it strikes at a central truth: big bands, like orchestras, employ a lot of people and can be central economic drivers for jazz scenes.

All the more important, then, to have a leader like Ron Paley, who also inspires loyalty and admiration.

The nationally celebrated 75-year-old performer, composer, arranger and band leader is celebrated at a tribute concert this Saturday.

What’s up: Food Truck Battles; murder mystery; U of M School of Art; David Essig; pro wrestling

MB Food Truck BattlesAssiniboia Downs, 3975 Portage Ave.Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.Tickets $7 at wfp.to/iaNThree dozen of Winnipeg’s finest food trucks will converge on Assiniboia Downs this weekend as the MB Food Truck Battles returns for another event featuring the best street food the city has to offer.

The participating rolling restos cover a wide range of culinary street fare for all palates. Among those taking part in the food truck battle are Beavertails, Captain Calamari, La Taqueria, Miss Tiny’s Jamaican Food Truck, Poutines R Us, Tot Wheels and Wacky Waffles. (Stretchy pants are not mandatory, but highly recommended.)

Folks who scarf down some tasty treats can vote for their favourite food truck on Saturday and Sunday at the event; those who vote have a chance to win $300 in “food truck bucks.”

The event will also feature activities for kids (including face painting and bouncy castles), live bands (including Paige Drobot, the Prairie Joggers, Zach Riley and November Underground), a beer garden, wrestling and a tattoo pop-up with 20 tattoo artists.

Made-in-Manitoba action flick Normal tips its hat to neo-westerns

British director Ben Wheatley has always been adventurous in his penchant for traversing genre boundaries, including hardcore horror (The Kill List), the big-budget monster movie (The Meg 2), the cerebral art film (High-Rise), and his own invention, the acid-trip period piece (A Field in England).

Documents show Queen Elizabeth was eager for ex-Prince Andrew to become trade envoy

LONDON (AP) — Documents show Queen Elizabeth II was “very keen” that the former Prince Andrew be given the job of UK trade envoy.

The U.K. government on Thursday released the confidential papers related to the appointment, just months after lawmakers accused the king’s brother of putting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the nation.

“The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests,” the head of Britain’s trade body wrote in a letter.

The involvement of the late queen will confirm previously held beliefs that the monarch held a soft spot for her son — an empathy that might have influenced her lack of decisiveness in dealing with allegations of Andrew’s connection to Epstein.

Stephen Colbert’s long goodbye is coming to an end, leaving a void

NEW YORK (AP) — On his very first time hosting “The Late Show” back in 2015, Stephen Colbert ripped into Donald Trump while gorging on Oreos, likening his inability to resist the cookies to his inability to resist going after the then-presidential candidate.

“Look, you don't own me. I don't need to play tape of you to have a successful TV show,” he warned an image of Trump. “Someone on television should have a modicum of dignity and it could be me.”

Over the next 11 years, Colbert couldn't curb his appetite for making Trump barbs, often turning his show into a full-throated rebuke of MAGA policies. Trump would call him a “dead man walking.”

The on-air feud between the two men seemingly ends Thursday as Colbert's top-rated late-night TV program goes off the air for the final time, effectively silencing a high-profile White House critic.

Malaysia orders TikTok to explain ‘grossly offensive’ fake content targeting king

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia said Thursday it has ordered TikTok to explain and address what it described as the social media platform's failure to act swiftly against offensive, defamatory and fake content targeting the royal institution.

The Communications and Multimedia Commission said the move followed the circulation of “grossly offensive, false, menacing and insulting” content, including AI-generated videos and manipulated images linked to an account falsely claiming association with king Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.

Such matters fall within the sensitive issues of race, religion and royalty “which are highly sensitive and may undermine public order, national harmony and respect for constitutional institutions,” the regulator said in a statement.

Despite prior notifications and engagements, it said TikTok’s moderation response especially in ensuring the prompt removal of such content and preventing further dissemination was unsatisfactory.

Takeaways from AP’s report on deep-sea mining

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to create a deep-sea mining industry from scratch, businesses have raised millions of dollars from investors, stock prices have soared and federal regulators have raced to fast-track a permitting process.

At least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, according to an Associated Press review. Sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall.

All the action suggests the U.S. may soon give the green light for companies to commercially mine the seabed — something that’s never been done in international waters.

But a close look at some of the companies involved reveals uncertain track records and histories spattered with legal disputes, while major questions about how the minerals would be processed and refined remain unanswered. Watchers of the nascent industry are skeptical the promised riches will ever materialize.