Comedian takes laughs online with virtual open mic

Dream season for Ponder who has yet to miss a cut on PGA Tour Americas

He may not be a household name to average golf fans just yet, but that’s likely about to change rather quickly.

And local lovers of the sport might want to hurry down to Elmhurst this week to catch a glimpse of Thomas Ponder before he’s off to play where the grass is even greener. Or, at the very least, where the paycheques are much bigger.

Ponder enters this year’s Manitoba Open atop the PGA Tour Americas points list and is a virtual lock to, at the very least, earn promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour for 2027, which is awarded to the top 10 finishers.

A jump directly to the PGA Tour — the way recent Manitoba Open winners such as Hayden Springer and Johnny Keefer, and other competitors such as Neal Shipley and Michael Brennan, have made — wouldn’t be a huge surprise, either.

Everyone must play the long game

Today’s decision is just one small point on a continuum that will go on until Trump is no longer president or, as a nation, we manage to disentangle our economy from our nearest neighbour to the greatest extent possible.

Costco breaks ground on new West St. Paul store

Construction has begun on the American retailer's newest Manitoba location which developers expect will open in August 2027.

New Bannatyne eatery brings feast of Asian flavours

Matriarchal influences run deep at House of Ma Kitchen and Bar.

Executive chef Dom Merano took inspiration from his mom’s home cooking while developing the menu for the new Exchange District restaurant — specifically Cynthia Merano’s recipes for lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) and kare-kare (braised beef and peanut stew).

“It tastes like home,” Merano says of the dishes, adding that his mom “felt honoured to be able to share her cooking with people. She was actually here prior to opening helping me roll lumpia.”

Cynthia’s photo is hung among the “Wall of Mas” at the back of the restaurant, where the mothers and grandmothers of True Hospitality staff are given pride of place.

Working together in a trade war

In the Second World War, a grand coalition, held together politically by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, succeeded in defeating Nazi Germany, after many bumps in the road. The rich history of this period reinforces the truism that coalitions — bringing together parties of divergent strength and interests to face together a common challenge — are fraught with many points of potential fracture.

Canada was not only a partner in the great international war effort but also fashioned a national coalition — presided over by Prime Minister Mackenzie King — necessitated by the federalist nature of our government. It worked after a fashion — conscription notwithstanding — and we emerged as a trusted friend and ally of our southern neighbour.

Oh, how times have changed. We are again faced with an existential threat; not to be compared to a world war, but serious enough given it’s posed not by a distant foe on another continent, but by the most powerful country in the world, with whom we share 8,800 kilometres of heretofore undefended border.

The unprovoked attack on Canada has been economic; tariffs, threats of tariffs, scrapped trade agreements and so forth — measures that have already had significant impact and promise to escalate. How does a country of 10 quasi-independent provinces with a national government constitutionally pre-eminent in international relations respond?