Clucking like a chicken would have been preferable

Food literacy curriculum on the menu

Manitoba has a new recipe for health class and “food literacy” is a key ingredient.

The in-class portion of phys-ed has historically involved lessons about puberty, the risks of consuming drugs and dissecting Canada’s food guide.

A new pilot program asks teachers to expand their nutrition units and include in-depth discussions about how everything from diet culture to food insecurity affects eating habits.

“This is really moving beyond a conception of food as only fuel, where you just boil down food to its calories, its vitamins,” said Sarah Elvins, a food historian at the University of Manitoba who researches popular culture and marketing.

Jets GM insists club’s not working under any deadline in netminder’s trade request

Connor Hellebuyck and his family were subject to so much post-Olympic vitriol that both the Winnipeg Jets security team and even police had to get involved.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff revealed new details about the situation when asked about it Thursday by the Free Press, acknowledging it may have played a role in the star goaltender now refusing to report to training camp while he awaits word of a trade he’s demanded.

“That’s the dangers of being on social media today,” said Cheveldayoff, who took aim at the mostly anonymous trolls.

“You open yourself up, obviously to the fans and you want to make that connection, but some of the fans aren’t true blue fans. There’s a lot of things that probably get said that have nothing to do with anybody in our market. They might not even be from a Canadian market.”

Big off-season trade bolsters Pistons

In what’s becoming a regular occurrence, the Steinbach Pistons have nearly a whole new crop of players set to take the ice for them this season.

Just eight players are returning from last year’s squad that finished with the second-highest record in the league.

With such a fresh roster, head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said the Pistons are a “work in progress,” noting this was the first time he’s only had a single-digit number of returnees.

“It takes time,” he said after a team event Sept. 15.

Police officer faces charges of domestic assault

A Winnipeg police officer has been charged after police said he broke into a woman’s home and attacked her.

Police were sent to a home on Wednesday shortly before 10:20 p.m., the Winnipeg Police Service said in a Thursday news release. When officers arrived, they found the man, 20-year member in his 40s, inside a home assaulting the woman, the release said.

The man was taken into custody and the woman was given medical aid.

She told officers the man broke into the home, threatened to kill her and then attacked her.

Rain causing poor harvest conditions for farmers

BRANDON — Farmers are dealing with poor harvest conditions owing to the high amount of rain this month.

Brandon had received 74.7 millimetres of rain by Sept. 15, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada said Wednesday. The amount is equal to 173 per cent of average rainfall for Brandon.

The wet conditions are causing crop loss and delays in harvesting, several Westman farmers said this week.

“At this point, it (could be) six figures of loss. And that all happens in days,” Cassandra Lepp, a Rivers-area wheat and canola farmer, said. “We have good crops out there, and they are disappearing.”

Online fundraiser for ‘polite, modest farmer’ facing firearms charges sending message, neighbour says

Thousands of dollars have been raised to help cover the legal fees of a Manitoba man charged after he allegedly fired a gun at thieves during a theft on his farm in August.