Romantic comedy far too cheesy

Building bridges for the next generation

Change has been the motivation behind Clayton Sandy’s work for decades.

A member of Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation, Sandy is an Indigenous knowledge keeper, cultural advisor and community advocate. His work has taken him into newcomer organizations, schools, hospitals and workplaces across Manitoba, where he teaches Indigenous history, mentors youth and helps build relationships between communities.

Sitting down for an interview with the Free Press, Sandy arrived with a busy calendar in hand, a reflection of the many projects and initiatives that continue to fill his days as he works to create change for future generations.

“I have two boys and I have five grandchildren. The racism I put up with was really bad,” Sandy said. “And I don’t want my grandchildren to put up with that garbage.”

‘This is Mommy’s park’: city honours two-time Olympic champion curler Lawes

When Kaitlyn Lawes drives through her childhood neighbourhood, she’ll now be able to point to a park bearing her name — and tell her daughters that anything is possible.

On Tuesday, the City of Winnipeg officially renamed Lindenwood Drive West Park in honour of the two-time Olympic gold medallist curler.

Lawes won her first Olympic gold medal in 2014 as part of Team Jennifer Jones at the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia and captured a second gold medal in mixed doubles with John Morris at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

She has also won the 2018 World Women’s Curling Championship and the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, earned silver and bronze medals at the World Junior Curling Championships, and represented Manitoba at the Canada Games.

WestJet, CUPE reach tentative deal as passengers scramble amid flight disruptions

CALGARY - WestJet and the union representing some 4,400 flight attendants reached a tentative deal Monday to resume work after a brief work stoppage, but neither side is sharing specifics yet.

The airline had said Sunday it had proposed a 13 per cent pay increase starting in October, and then a 2.5 per cent increase in each of the next three years until 2029.

The airline also said it offered a new duty pay premium, equivalent to another 12 per cent salary increase, which WestJet said is designed to solve the cabin crew's claim of unpaid work.

In a news conference in Calgary on Monday, CUPE local 8125 president Alia Hussain said the flight attendants have 30 days to ratify the agreement, and the union will spend the coming days preparing a slide show to present to the members.

Ticked off by Trump’s tantrums

If Mr. Trump isn’t prepared to step up and better manage his ticks, he’s just blowing smoke.

Homegrown grub: Resto turns to the Leaf for freshest ingredients

The term “eat local” has taken on a whole new meaning at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, where the journey from plot to plate is measured in footsteps rather than miles.

Head chef Mike Licharson has expanded the restaurant’s focus on local sourcing by incorporating fruit and vegetables grown in The Leaf’s biomes and outdoor kitchen garden into his menu.

Bananas from the tropical biomes star in his banana-bread French toast and accompanying banana compote. Leeks, braised slowly and paired with Manitoba-grown beluga lentils, and Swiss chard — which takes the place of grape leaves in Licharson’s play on classic meze dolmades, a nod to the chef’s Greek-Ukrainian-Irish heritage — are both grown in the outdoor kitchen garden.

The park’s produce complements the restaurant’s other locally sourced ingredients, Licharson says.

Toronto’s alternative crisis response model deemed a success

A Toronto emergency response program that helped inspire Winnipeg’s proposed alternative crisis response model has already expanded city-wide, just four years after launching as a pilot project.

The Toronto Community Crisis Service, launched in 2022, has become the city’s fourth emergency service, providing a 24-7, community-based response to people experiencing mental health crises. The service has handled nearly 50,000 calls through 911 and 211, dispatched mobile crisis teams to more than 41,000 incidents, made more than 11,600 referrals to health and social services and resolved the majority of eligible 911 calls without police involvement.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham last week proposed creating a similar “fourth crisis response pathway” that would allow 911 calls that aren’t violent or criminal in nature to be transferred to community-based crisis teams.

Under the proposal, which has support from both the Winnipeg Police Service and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, a centralized crisis dispatch and co-ordination hub would receive triaged calls and match them with citywide response teams, staffed in part through existing community organizations, including the Downtown Community Safety Partnership and The Link’s mobile crisis teams. The goal is to divert appropriate calls away from the WPS and WFPS.