Alexander to headline Negev gala

Empty desks: Advocates talk chronic school absenteeism

Concerned that school and government leaders are downplaying the state of student absenteeism, community organizers are strategizing to create urgency around who’s regularly missing class — and why — in Winnipeg.

The inaugural Youth at Risk in Winnipeg Symposium, held over the weekend at the Canadian Mennonite University, drew roughly 100 people to discuss barriers to attendance and brainstorm ways to remove them.

Nearly 20 years after he began calling attention to the issue, first as a volunteer with the Point Douglas Residents Committee, Sel Burrows gave an impassioned speech about the lack of political will to take meaningful action to help students from “dysfunctional homes.”

“I’ve dealt with nine cabinet ministers, Conservative and NDP, and five deputy ministers, and the issue has not gotten any better,” Burrows told teachers, reseachers and community support workers gathered Saturday on CMU’s Shaftesbury campus.

Hydro eyes EV charging mitigation amid electricity shortfall forecast

Manitoba Hydro is looking to stagger electric vehicle charging as it anticipates future electricity shortages.

The Crown corporation is considering “managed charging” pilot projects. Details aren’t available; Hydro is in exploratory phases, spokesman Peter Chura wrote in a statement.

Alex Chiang, Hydro’s vice-president of customer solutions and experience, addressed dozens of electric vehicle industry members during a national conference at The Fort Garry Hotel on Wednesday.

Around 300 people registered for the conference, hosted by Electric Mobility Canada.

Brandon senior hockey player files suit against opponent, league, Hockey Manitoba over serious injuries, lost income

A Brandon man is taking a fellow hockey player and two sport organizations to court after he was seriously injured on the ice, alleging it caused him hardship and lost income.

In 2024, Devon Leblanc played for the Virden Oil Kings, a senior amateur team in the Tiger Hills Hockey League, which is a member of the Hockey Manitoba association.

Leblanc’s age is not made clear in the court filing, but an online roster suggests he’s 38.

Leblanc alleges Bryce Enns, a member of the Killarney Shamrocks, bodychecked and assaulted him during a game between the two teams on Nov. 28, 2024.

Clay Stevenson credits therapeutic side of hockey in learning to live with mother’s suicide

Hockey has always been more than just a game to Clay Stevenson. That was especially true after he suffered the biggest loss of his life: his mother, Holly, died by suicide seven years ago.

New blood in St. Vital

Candidates to fill the wide-open St. Vital city council seat are sharing their plans to ease traffic, tighten up development rules, protect trees and improve Winnipeg Transit.

Coun. Brian Mayes led the ward since 2011 but is not running for re-election, guaranteeing a new city councillor will be chosen.

Chris Sigurdson, a Louis Riel School Division trustee and criminal defence lawyer, is competing for the job with Mayes’ endorsement.

Sigurdson said his trustee work over the last 16 years provided a valuable education in local government that he could apply at city hall.

Katie Zacharia and the telling of lies

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new press secretary made her debut last week and was almost universally panned and parodied, lasting just five days before being fired.