Today’s horoscope

Students continue to criticize handling of MITT’s closure

Students at a Manitoba trade college say their education has been hampered as a result of its impending closure and they blame government for a poor transition.

The provincial government announced in January it would close the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology because it was no longer financially viable following the federal government’s decision to cut the number of international students allowed to study in Canada.

Officials have said students would remain the top priority as 19 programs from MITT are set to be absorbed by Red River College Polytech.

Kieran Smith, an electrical applications student at MITT, said it feels like those in charge “don’t really care.”

A small step among troubling signs

There’s no getting around the fact — to many people, downtown Winnipeg is unsafe. Period.

Ref ‘dominates’ game in Sea Bears loss to Honey Badgers, says coach

Following a festive Christmas-in-July-themed Saturday afternoon inside Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg Sea Bears head coach Mike Raimbault didn’t mince words about who he thought was the Grinch in a hard-fought 88-86 loss to the visiting Brampton Honey Badgers that ended in controversy.

As the Sea Bears owned a one-point lead in Target Score Time, Brampton guard Sean East II was awarded three free throws — all of which he converted — after a questionable foul called on Teddy Allen by official Perry Stothart.

Raimbault, who has been known to bite his tongue on such topics, left nothing to the imagination about where he stood on the game-deciding judgment made in a game that had major post-season implications.

“I just felt like it was a fitting ending to the game where Perry Stothart had dominated the flow of the game from the start,” he said. “For him to call a bit of a guess foul and end the game on the foul, I felt like it’s disappointing that he can come in and dictate how the game’s going to be played and flow, and (that) continues to be a bit of an M.O. for him. So I think we’re disappointed with the fact that the league continues to let that happen.”

Visitors from across Canada make Somerset restaurant’s social media challenge a success

There may not be another restaurant in Manitoba that can say it has welcomed visitors from as many communities across the province and beyond as the Somerset Food Bar & Lounge has this summer.

In just over a two week span, visitors from more than 100 towns have come out to the family-owned restaurant tucked away in Somerset, a community of roughly 450 people in the Pembina Valley 130 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

It started as a challenge, “60 Towns in 60 Days,” where the restaurant wanted to document how many different places they could reach, as it often sees people travelling across Canada stop at the restaurant. The goal was also to encourage people to make a drive they normally wouldn’t.

“The more we started sharing, the more people really started getting behind it, and it turned into this really big thing fairly quickly,” said Jay Friesen, restaurant manager.

Automation reaches new heights on farm

LANGHAM, Sask. — The thousands of farmers from across the Prairies who flock to the annual Ag in Motion show every July seem oblivious to the possibility the technology on display could one day replace many of them.

Families with children in tow, Hutterite colony workers, grandparents and young couples just starting out roamed through the 600 or more exhibitor displays, amazed at how everything about farming just keeps getting bigger, more efficient and increasingly more automated.

It’s now possible to seed using a 100-foot-wide drill — a 12-foot jump over the widest available a few years ago — provided the farmer can afford a tractor with enough horsepower to pull it. Those sell for around $850,000 and up.

Granted, the number of farms with enough acres to justify that kind of width and drawing power is still relatively small, but farms continue to grow. And it’s no secret the number of people who have the interest, skills and financial wherewithal to run them continues to shrink.

Together Project helps newcomers feel at home

When refugee families first arrive in Winnipeg they are plunged into an alien culture.

Often fleeing dangerous circumstances, discrimination or war, displaced families are forced to navigate bewildering societal norms and cultural expectations in an unfamiliar environment.

It can often feel utterly overwhelming.

And while government settlement agencies are an invaluable foundational resource, nothing can replace human connection and peer-to-peer guidance.