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Jets depth chart takes shape as off-season heats up

That Kevin Cheveldayoff was expecting the pace of the off-season to shift gears came as little surprise.

And while it appears as though there are still a few questions left unresolved when it comes to the Winnipeg Jets roster this fall — including a massive one involving starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck and his future with the organization — the depth chart is taking shape.

When he spoke to members of the media at the conclusion of Jets development camp, the general manager spoke about prioritizing a new contract for restricted free agent Cole Perfetti, who filed for arbitration on Sunday in what was more of a procedural move than an indicator of how negotiations might be going.

As Perfetti stated unabashedly after his exit interview, the Jets forward wants to be part of the long-term solution and there should be an opportunity for the player and the team to find common ground on a long-term deal with the Jets before an arbitration hearing takes place.

Good Samaritans bring cleanup efforts to flooded communities

A Christian relief organization that has been helping Parkland homeowners recover from flooding for nearly a month is shifting its work to Swan River and has vowed to stay until every job is finished.

Program manager Andy Northup said Samaritan’s Purse Canada had received about 85 work orders in Swan River as of Thursday, with the number expected to rise.

“We always say it this way: we never leave without completing all our work orders,” Northup said from the Swan River area. “We’ll just keep taking them until they dry up and stop coming in.”

He estimated it will be at least a month until the last job is finished, given the scale of the destruction in the western Manitoba town.

Auto body shops swamped following record-setting weather-related claims

Manitoba’s auto body industry has kicked into high gear after rain and hail battered parts of the province in early June, smashing windshields, submerging vehicles and shattering the 30-year-old record for the most auto insurance claims tied to a single weather event, new data shows.

Manitoba Public Insurance logged more than 30,000 insurance claims connected to the massive storm system that settled over Winnipeg and surrounding areas on June 9 — exceeding the record set during a 1996 hailstorm that generated 24,000 claims, data provided to the Free Press shows.

“Truthfully, it has never been this busy,” said Trevor Sprechert, general manager of Dr. Dent Winnipeg.

“I’ve seen windshields being broken, sunroofs, pretty substantial dents on hoods and roofs. There is a plethora of different types of damage.”

Songwriter Jacob Brodovsky reckons with past, present on new album

Grab a kitchen scale and you’ll quickly see that Jacob Brodovsky’s newest LP is exactly the same weight as his last one, but Tell the Kids We Tried is still the heaviest music released by the singer-songwriter.

Winnipeg Beach staple Playland back in action

Tyler Bennie and Melanie McFarlane needed a change of pace, so they bought an arcade.

Cleanup ‘staggering’ as severe storm slams Whiteshell, Kenora

Chainsaws buzzed around Darren James on Tuesday while seasonal residents cleaned up and assessed damage from a severe storm that hit part of Whiteshell Provincial Park one day earlier.