Stand down, mom! Let your son be happy

A life’s story: activist, educator, organizer knew the true meaning of community

Somewhere between a love for sharing stories and a love of community connections, Michael (Mike) Maunder lived his life. Giving voice to people and neighbourhoods was a passion for the natural-born community organizer.

An author, teacher and principal, Maunder lived in a one-bedroom apartment in West Broadway and devoted himself to community development, education and neighbourhood renewal.

He maintained a connection with Augustine United Church, whose commitment to social justice he appreciated, volunteered at the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre, and found comfort in a Buddhist prayer community.

Maunder died on July 15 at the age of 80.

Cabernet Sauvignon star of wine festival

The Winnipeg Wine Festival will celebrate the king of red wine grapes next weekend — the theme of this year’s festival, which takes place Sept. 25 and 26 at the RBC Convention Centre, is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cab Sauv, as it’s also known, is the world’s most widely planted wine grape of any colour, first coming to prominence in the 1800s in France’s Bordeaux region, where the grape is still popular. Rather than single-variety wines, Bordeaux reds tend to be blends, with those coming from the left bank of the Gironde estuary being Cabernet-dominant, while right-bank wines are Merlot-dominant, with Cabernet Sauvignon playing a supporting role. Cabernet and Merlot work well together and many other countries have followed suit in blending the two.

A team at University of California Davis put Cabernet Sauvignon through a DNA test in 1996 and discovered its parent grapes are Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc — it’s likely that at some point the two varieties, planted next to each other in some vineyard, crossed and mutated and became the grape we know today. (Someone growing grapes in the 19th century must have had an inkling of what was up, as the grape has been called Cabernet Sauvignon since long before the DNA test.)

Flavour-wise, most Cabernet Sauvignon wines are big and bold, with a core of deep dark berry flavours, some graphite and spice notes and relatively bright acidity. It’s a grape that is well-suited to barrel aging, with most examples seeing at least some time in wood.

Klein has burned bridges with PM, Gillingham says

One mayoral candidate accused another of writing a column so critical it could compromise his ability to work with the federal government.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Capricorn.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Be aware that people notice you more than usual. In fact, some people will even know personal details about your private life. Consider this in case you have to do some damage control. This is a relaxed day and a chatty one.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

National Black Canadians Summit celebrates culture, combats racism

Despite the event’s name — the National Black Canadians Summit — Bruce Miller felt he should attend.

He booked a ticket. And so, this weekend, the Indigenous Manitoban joined roughly 1,500 people flocking to the RBC Convention Centre.

It’s a full schedule — addresses from a former Canadian governor general, sessions on Black mental health and anti-Black racism.

The annual event draws politicians, artists and other professionals from across the country.

American Hostage stars recall warmth of Winnipeggers during brutal winter

TORONTO — When you stream the eight-part series American Hostage, a sense of familiarity may strike.

That’s because the show was shot in Winnipeg — especially in the Exchange District — from November of last year to the beginning of February, with Winnipeg portraying Indianapolis circa 1977.

The whole world seemed to be watching that midwest American city that year as a hostage crisis unfolded involving one Tony Kiritsis, an angry man who goes ballistic when a mortgage brokerage was poised to foreclose on property he had dreamed of developing into a shopping centre.

Kiritsis kidnapped his mortgage broker, Richard Hall, wiring a shotgun to the back of his head, and demanded a public airing of his grievances, with the reluctant help of popular radio broadcaster Fred Heckman.