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Bombers search for an offensive identity after Week 8 tailspin

Tommy Condell has been around long enough to know that criticism is part of the job, so you can understand why there were moments when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator sounded a tad defensive when speaking to the media on Monday afternoon.

The Bombers were coming off a disappointing 52-30 loss to the Calgary Stampeders that dropped them to 4-3 on the season.

In many instances, a 30-point outburst would have been cause for celebration. But when you look under the hood of Friday’s outing — which included four interceptions for Bombers pivot Dru Brown — the picture wasn’t quite as rosy.

Compounding matters, star tailback Brady Oliveira went from making the longest touchdown run of his CFL career — a 45-yard scamper late in the third quarter — to being a mostly forgotten player in the fourth as the club mostly abandoned the run in an effort to rally from nine and eventually 12-point deficits.

Manitoba Innovates seeks to pump up in-person networking as artificial intelligence-created resumés become norm

The average job seeker has a resumé ghost writer: artificial intelligence.

Many Manitoba businesses are flooded by AI-generated resumés and, in turn, use AI to filter the tide. In response, Manitoba Innovates — a startup incubator — is launching an initiative to lead more in-person networking.

“We’re still looking for authenticity in people,” said Ron Cantiveros, manager of the incubator’s new career catalyst program.

“We’re looking for innovative ways to … attract talent, but also verify and qualify talent.”

Lawsuit targets pontoon boat operator, Sea-Doo driver, owner in fatal Whitemud River crash

The father of a 39-year-old Portage la Prairie woman killed in a boat crash on the Whitemud River is suing the men who were operating the involved watercraft, claiming they were negligent when navigating the winding waterway.

Ashley Danielle Rodgers died Aug. 10, 2024, when the Sea-Doo on which she was a passenger rounded a curve in the river and collided with an oncoming pontoon boat. She suffered blunt injuries and died, leaving behind two children.

“She was a vulnerable passenger on the back of a Sea-Doo which had no protection,” said lawyer Martin Pollock.

“It’s a very interesting case because it addresses water safety, it addresses boating safety, it’s an absolute nightmare to parents and loved ones when people are out on waterways. Rules have to be respected, especially going around blind curves.”

Flood relief extended to more Manitoba communities as bills mount

The Manitoba government has expanded flood relief to 13 additional communities as the price tag to repair infrastructure and help property owners pay for damage could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, one municipal leader says.

On Monday, the province announced the additional coverage under Manitoba’s flood recovery program, raising the number of eligible communities to 29.

“It’s just taken some time for us to do the technical work,” said Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor in an interview with the Free Press. “The spring flood events that we experienced in Manitoba this year are unlike anything we’ve seen and they’re really attributable to what we’re seeing through climate change.”

Naylor said the government introduced the program because people who “never guessed” they’d be hit by flooding are dealing with the aftermath of extreme weather events.

Cultural consultation gives Indigenous stories strength in Netflix’s new Little House on the Prairie

Through her work as an Indigenous consultant for film and TV, Julie O’Keefe, a citizen of the Osage Nation, has brought accuracy and authenticity to works such as Martin Scorsese’s 2023 crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon, the 2025 western miniseries American Primeval and, most recently, Rebecca Sonnenshine’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie.

But she doesn’t work solo.

“One of the things that I always say is, in any of these jobs that I do — whether it’s Shoshone and Paiute and Ute or Osage — I never come alone to this,” says O’Keefe, who grew up in Pawhuska, Okla., the heart of the Osage Nation, and is now based in Santa Fe, N.M. “I engage because those stories are so much richer with our voices added to it, and we know that.

“I’m sitting down with brilliant directors, brilliant writers, and I’m handing over pieces of history that they’re like, ‘How come nobody knows this?’ And the great part is, this is the time in history … people are really starting to get on top of wanting this for their stories, because it really wasn’t of any importance before.”

An eroding Winnipeg neighbourhood looks to new foundations

The lot Jesse Bettcher lives on in Winnipeg's North End used to be a pile of burnt rubble. Same with the one next door. And the one across the street. But he's now the proud owner of a two-storey house with blue-grey siding and white trim.