World Series TV viewers up 20% from 2020 but down from 2019

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

They’ve both been around the NHL block a bit, but make no mistake, Stuart Skinner and Mario Ferraro are experiencing some “new kid at school” type jitters this week.

The pair were prized July 1 free agent signings by the Winnipeg Jets and are now quickly trying to get the lay of the land — from teammates and systems and structure to restaurants, schools and the best routes to the rink — in what is a frantic time on both a professional and personal level.

“It’s a big change, right?” Ferraro said Wednesday following a pre-training camp skate at the Hockey For All Centre.

“Like moving cities, getting settled somewhere else, with my family, my wife, my daughter, our two dogs. But I think it’s gone really well and smooth. We found a great place here, and we’re really happy with where we’re living.”

Lone Manitoba 9/11 victim's legacy lives on helping Inuit students become nurses

On the night before the morning that everyone remembers, Ellen Judd spoke to her partner, Christine Egan, several times on the phone. Egan was in New York, where she’d gone to look after her nephews so her beloved brother, Michael, and his wife, Anna, could treat themselves to an anniversary vacation.

Usually, Judd would have been there, too. The couple had been together for more than 15 years, and loved sharing all the good parts of life. But at the time, she was an anthropology professor at the University of Manitoba, and the school year was just starting; she had classes the next day. Staying connected by phone would have to suffice.

In their calls that night, Judd remembers, Egan was happy. Christmas was the main topic. They were planning to spend the holiday with Judd’s family in Ontario, and talked about when to book flights. Egan was looking forward to that visit; Judd’s family “loved her to bits,” the now-retired professor says, and the affection was mutual.

The next day, Egan said, she planned to go into Manhattan with Michael. He was an executive at Aon, a global risk, retirement and health services corporation, and had an office on the 105th floor of the World Trade Centre’s South Tower.

American takes men’s senior title, Manitoban Fanning finishes third

Todd Fanning did everything he could.

The decorated local golfer knew he would need to go low to have a chance at becoming the first Manitoban to win the Canadian men’s senior national championship on Friday, and while he held up his end of the bargain, in the end it was not to be.

Starting the day five shots back of the lead — a gap he closed quickly, actually taking the solo lead from a brief stretch early in the day — Fanning carded six birdies en route to tying a tournament-low four-under 68 in the final round at Niakwa Country Club.

The 58-year-old’s effort would be matched by Arizona’s Bryan Hoops, whose matching 68 carried him to a two-shot victory.

Education minister’s reasons for revoking teacher’s licence ‘not good enough,’ judge decides

A Manitoba judge has rejected the education minister’s decision to end a teacher’s career because he repeatedly messaged with a 13-year-old girl on social media.

Highway-safety upgrades in progress after tragic Interlake crash

Provincial workers have started to update or install safety measures at a rural Interlake intersection where four teenage friends died in a crash on Labour Day weekend.

Pavement markings were repainted at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach, ahead of work to refresh worn-down rumble strips, starting Monday, and install flashing lights atop two stop signs, following an assessment earlier this week.

“They will also need to incorporate any information from the RCMP report that might be helpful if we were to consider any additional safety measures at this intersection,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said of department staff.

“The most important thing is safety, and any kinds of changes we make at any intersection actually have to make it safer.”

Rural venue lets artists shine on more intimate stage

With cooler temperatures on their way, Jocelyne Baribeau wants to break the linguistic ice between musicians with a new concert series at her home near Ste. Geneviève, about 30 minutes east of the Perimeter.

A onetime Western Canadian Music Award winner as best francophone artist, the St. Vital-raised Baribeau intends the Icebreakers series — which has its first concert this Sunday — to provide musicians with an intimate, rural setting to experiment and collaborate with peers with whom they might not otherwise share a bill.

“A goal for me to sort of erase a bit of that invisible line that we put. ‘It’s a French event,’ or ‘It’s an English event,’” says Baribeau, the vice-president of the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

“The more we can do that, the more opportunity there is for everyone. Music is music, and I don’t think it’s a language thing. You can feel a lot of things even when someone is singing in a language you don’t understand.”