New coin honors Freddie Mercury and his 4-octave range

Get out and exercise your franchise

Are there any compelling arguments left that will convince Manitobans to vote in this province’s municipal elections on Wednesday, Oct. 28?

For years — nay, decades — this newspaper has urged people to exercise their right to vote. Our arguments have grown increasingly adamant, yet voter turnout has continued to decline.

This has created a meaningful threat to democracy itself.

Without engagement from voters, we leave ourselves open to being led by those who are, at best, ill-suited, or at worse, are emboldened to grab the levers of government power and then abuse democratic institutions.

Down-to-earth diner fuses Filipino flavours, family and fortitude

There is a photomontage on one wall of Charlee’s Restaurant & Lounge devoted entirely to enduring Elmwood businesses such as the Thirsty Duck Café, Kool Deelites, Bath Fitter and Video Cellar.

Little did Charlee’s owner Charlie Villapando know as he was stringing the black-and-white shots together that his no-nonsense, homestyle diner at 185 Stadacona St. would grow to be a pillar of the working-class community, as well.

It was definitely a struggle for the first year and a half, Villapando admits, seated inside the 160-seat establishment that will toast its 20th anniversary in December. Besides relying largely on friends and family members who were willing to wait on tables for free, he was alone in the kitchen for 15 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I can’t tell you how many times I slept here on four chairs pushed together, simply because it would be 2 a.m. by the time I was done cleaning and whatnot, leaving just a few hours before I had to be back for breakfast,” he continues, casually dressed in jeans, sneakers and a dark cotton hoodie. “Thinking about it now, I probably should have put a cot in my office, except I never wanted to make it too comfortable. Thankfully, more people started to find us, I was finally able to afford staff and here we are, almost 20 years later, with me sleeping much better.”

Frustration on menu as St. James construction drags on

Nearly four months of construction outside the front door of a longtime Portage Avenue restaurant has driven away customers and left its owner struggling to cover operating expenses.

Hutterite colonies embrace the manufacturing business – while staying faithful to their way of life

Tucked away at Oak Bluff Hutterite Colony, past rows of communal housing and farm buildings, Aaron Maendel tinkers in a laboratory.

Black-and-white sheets smeared with grey-test formulas cover a counter. A Thermotron — a refrigerator-looking machine — is powered off but standing by to simulate any desired temperature.

Maendel moves to a worktop littered with partly full mixing cups. He pulls out a small, rectangular sample — a sheet showing the drying time of his new fixation, floor coatings.

“Very simple, actually. Very simple machine. Drags a stick through the mud,” Maendel says.

New coin honors Freddie Mercury and his 4-octave range

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Royal Mint is celebrating Freddie Mercury with a new coin design that marks 40 years since his iconic Live Aid concert performance.

The coin features an image of the Queen front man, head thrown back and holding the microphone stand midperformance. A musical stave that runs around the edge of the coin represents his four-octave vocal range.

The first coin was struck by Mercury’s sister Kashmira Bulsara at the Royal Mint in Wales last week.

“As Freddie died young, he didn’t get the chance of being awarded a royal medal for his talents in the music world. So to have a royal coin this way is wonderful and very fitting,” she said.