Don’t sleep on haunted mate’s nocturnal admissions

Hydro’s unpredictable fortunes

Hope for rain. Or snow. Or both.

There’s a truism buried deep in a financial outlook in Manitoba Hydro’s 2025-26 annual report, released in late September: “Manitoba Hydro’s net income is highly dependent on several uncontrollable factors.”

Those factors include the risk of drought reducing hydroelectric production and sales (a situation that means the utility will have to purchase more power, especially in winter), the rate of inflation, the actual cost of purchased electricity and increased interest rates that would mean Hydro will have to spend more servicing its $26.55 billion debt.

The report outlines that several of those factors came together during the utility’s last full fiscal year — along with huge costs to replace equipment damaged in a long, dry summer of forest fires.

Jets encouraged by play through first five games

Turkey. Stuffing. And a heaping helping of rest and recovery.

The Winnipeg Jets have plenty to be thankful for this holiday weekend, including a solid 3-1-1 start to the NHL campaign. Players and coaches are also counting their blessings at finally getting a breather after a busy stretch of five games in eight days.

“We don’t have another (break like this) until a week before Christmas. So we’re going to take advantage of it,” head coach Scott Arniel said following the club’s first regulation loss, a 5-1 stinker on Friday night against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

To borrow a funny old Thanksgiving-related phrase from former defenceman Nate Schmidt, the hockey club was “leaking gravy.” They looked like a group that could use a timeout — which they’ll get since they don’t play again until hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

What's open, what's closed, what's up on Thanksgiving

Here's a round-up of things to do and hours of business for services on Thanksgiving Day 2026.

Comparing the Iran and Vietnam Wars

The other day I asked my students in U.S. foreign policy to think about the relevance of the Vietnam War in relation to the ongoing war in Iran. More specifically, I wanted them to identify the similarities and differences between the two wars.

What is immediately striking is how domestic politics played such a seminal role in both conflicts. While American public opinion was generally in favour of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam in the early years, things started to turn very sour after U.S. soldiers started arriving stateside in flag-draped coffins and body bags. As for Iran, just about every single poll and TV newscast since the first few weeks of the war have illustrated an overwhelming public repudiation of President Trump’s military adventurism.

The electoral implications were also quite apparent for the two wars. The U.S.-Iran War is clearly having a positive effect on the Democratic Party’s electability, as it looks set to capture both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson, reading the political tea leaves from the Vietnam fallout, opted not to contest the 1968 U.S. presidential election.

Equally interesting, the U.S. press had a crucial, and mostly negative, impact on both the Vietnam and Iran conflicts. Who could forget Gen. William Westmoreland — the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam (1964-1968) — maintaining that it was the media’s fault the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam. While I take issue with his thesis, I do believe the news coverage and visuals of the first televised war served to raise serious concerns about why the U.S. was at war in Southeast Asia.

Late philanthropist, family fill Harvest’s Empty Bowls with record-setting $5-M donation

It was a record-breaking night for Harvest Manitoba made possible by a genuine Winnipeg hero and his family.

The organization’s annual Empty Bowls Celebrity Auction Dinner on Thursday raised $6.5 million to support Manitobans facing hunger and food insecurity.

And it was a $5-million legacy donation from late city philanthropist Doug Harvey and his family that will see the event go down in the history books as the largest gala fundraising total ever recorded in Manitoba.

“There was literally nothing that lit my dad up more than contributing himself, but even more so, inspiring others to give,” his daughter Lauren Harvey said Friday.