Erdogan unveils Turkey’s first astronaut on election trail

Potential Jets backup options include two possible netminder reunions

Kevin Cheveldayoff couldn’t help but make light of the situation.

Near the end of the press conference to discuss where things stand with training camp holdout Connor Hellebuyck, the general manager of the Jets was asked if he felt comfortable with the five goalies who were in training camp.

“You know I can’t have five on the roster,” Cheveldayoff quipped.

Only Cheveldayoff knows for sure how he feels about the organizational depth at the position and whether he’s planning to open the campaign with either Dom DiVincentiis or Thomas Milic in the backup role behind Stuart Skinner.

‘Extremely disappointed’: hunters being turned away near Bloodvein First Nation, Manitoba Wildlife Federation says

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation says hunters are again being refused access to land near Bloodvein River First Nation, a year after leadership told court it would let them through.

The senior policy adviser for the Manitoba Wildlife Federation said he’s had five reports of hunters being turned away at a checkstop the First Nation set up last year to stop the flow of drugs and alcohol into the community.

“(Checkstop officers) said they’re not allowing hunters through,” Chris Heald said. “They made that clear, and that was the end of it. This is just a rinse and repeat of last year.”

The wildlife federation took the First Nation to court last year after several hunters were refused access to Crown land during hunting season. The federation argued the checkpoint was unlawful and impedes access to hunters, who have the right to be there under the province’s Wildlife Act.

Jets land state-of-the-art dressing room after off-season of renovations

It’s not just the on-ice product that’s getting an overhaul this season for the Winnipeg Jets.

The hockey club has also undergone an extreme makeover when it comes to player facilities, including a new state-of-the-art dressing room that now rivals any around the league.

And if you don’t think that matters, you haven’t been paying attention.

“We’ve talked about doing everything first class,” head coach Scott Arniel told the Free Press on Tuesday. “We can’t do anything about the weather, but when people come here, we want them to know we look after them and we look after their families.”

Kinew, NDP rise to new heights in Free Press-Abacus Data poll; support for Khan, Tories falls further

Buoyed by a bump outside Winnipeg, support for Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP climbed to its highest level yet, while the Tories lost some ground.

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

It’s official — a dozen people are running to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The deadline to both register to run as a candidate in October’s municipal election and file nomination papers was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The final list of mayoral candidates includes: incumbent Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein, Brad Gross, Mazher Alam, Mike Vogiatzakis, Christopher Clacio, Umar Hayat, Don Woodstock, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Noah Redden, and Tracey Drexler.

A total of 17 had registered to run but several either withdrew or did not meet the requirements to continue. Those included: Zachary Uminski, Ed Ackerman, Gagandeep Bawa, Abdel-Kareem Chehadi and Joaquin Sandul.

Manitoba students able to opt out of classes with sensitive lessons on sex, drug use

Manitoba’s premier pledges to continue allowing parents to pull their kids from health class if content — be it related to human sexuality, substance use or otherwise — clashes with personal beliefs.

Wab Kinew said Tuesday the government’s overhaul of phys-ed and health curriculum in Manitoba schools won’t impact the ability for parents to opt-out of a lesson and deliver material as they see fit.

“As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher and that will always be the case,” Kinew said, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers on the football field outside Kelvin High School during an announcement Tuesday.

More than 100 schools are taking part in a voluntary pilot project this fall. It’s the first systematic review of this curriculum in decades. The changes to kindergarten-to-Grade 12 courses will be mandated to all schools in September 2028.