Producers Guild nominees include ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Sinners’ and ‘Weapons’

Kinew’s message for PM: don’t back down

Let it be known that when Canada’s provinces and alcohol industries needed a defender, Canada’s first First Nations provincial premier was their greatest warrior.

This is, admittedly, a provocative opening line — referencing historical and cultural intersections and relying on a stereotype or two.

It’s impossible, however, not to see how important the nearly Canada-wide provincial-led ban on the sale of U.S. alcohol is to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

It’s due to his stand on national matters like these that he’s become very popular — according to polls, the most popular premier in Canada — and has been empowered to take on the mantle of one of the captains of “Team Canada” on economic, political and domestic issues.

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Some North End residents are concerned new community mailboxes will become a target for vandalism and crime after the base of one was recently lit ablaze — before it was even installed.

The community mailboxes started to show up on Andrews Street within the last two weeks. Some have been installed, while at other locations, only the concrete foundation is in place.

“They just dumped them on the boulevard,” said Stephen Giesbrecht, who lives beside one of the boxes in the St. John’s neighbourhood. “They dumped them on the corner and then they were gone.”

One of the concrete slabs has already played host to a fire and some of the hardware needed to install the mailbox melted.

‘Pie Lady’ was a straight-shooter and the life of the party

Betty Gyles went by many names over the years: Mom, Grandma, hostess — and later in life, “Pie Lady.”

Elizabeth, known as Betty to most, was born in Winnipeg’s River Heights neighbourhood to Bill and Elizabeth Armstrong. She was the youngest child in her family, with three siblings: Bill, Bob and Barb.

Gyles grew up soaking up the sun in northwest Ontario, where her parents owned a cottage; it was there she learned to love to swim and sunbathe and sit on the “reading rock” with her sister.

Gyles would write stories and after each page was finished Betty would read them and it counted toward her summer reading goal.

City inundated with thousands of complaints after launch of new transit system

Despite complaints from thousands of dissatisfied users, Winnipeg hasn't hit the brakes on the rollout of its new primary transit network. And it appears that ignoring the public response cost Winnipeg Transit millions of dollars in lost revenue and ridership.

Manitoba beginning to produce ‘elite-level golfers’: Kuntz

It may not have ended the way everyone wanted, but make no mistake: this was a banner week for local golfers.

Let’s start with Braxton Kuntz, who managed to qualify his way into the Manitoba Open and then found himself lurking near the top of the leaderboard after an opening round five-under 65. Although he didn’t finish as strong as he started — rounds of 72, 70 and then 76 followed — the 22-year-old proved he can hang with the pros on PGA Tour Americas.

“I think over the last couple of years I’ve been continually getting better and that’s been great to see,” Kuntz told the Free Press.

“I’ve been fortunate to compete against some great players and hold my own. This was another good learning experience for me, and I’m just going to take it and run with it. I’m sure I’m one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in this field, so I’ve got a long road ahead of me.”