Yanks stop using Smith recording while investigating racism

Kinew, NDP rise to new heights in Free Press-Abacus Data poll; support for Khan, Tories falls further

Buoyed by a bump outside Winnipeg, support for Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP climbed to its highest level yet, while the Tories lost some ground.

Kinew ‘open to everything’ after Bell’s 911 failures

Premier Wab Kinew signalled Tuesday he’s open to all potential options, including switching 911 providers, if feasible, after a series of outages in Manitoba.

Kinew, who’s spoken to Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic and Prime Minister Mark Carney about Manitoba’s 911 service, said the government and the telecom continue to have a “back and forth.”

“At this stage, we’re open to everything,” Kinew said of potential steps to ensure the service is reliable. “The No. 1, I think, baseline is that when you dial 911, you’re going to get through to the help you need, whether that’s an ambulance or fire truck or police.”

Kinew said he’s looking forward to receiving Bell’s draft report to learn the cause of the most recent outage, which occurred Thursday and affected five other provinces where the telecom provides 911 service.

Rudick banks win, Bisons nab first team victory in seven years

Jack Rudick knew what it meant personally. He was surprised to find out how significant his breakthrough victory was for his program.

Earlier this month, the fourth-year Manitoba Bisons golfer strung together 36 holes of excellent play to win by four strokes over teammate Rory Neill at the Augsburg Fall Invitational at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in Ham Lake, Minn.

Rudick not only earned the individual victory, but his 5-under-par finish also helped the Bisons to their first team victory in seven years. With Neill (1-under), Terence Rafferty (6-over) and Ethan Portey’s (9-over) cumulative scores, Manitoba combined for a dominant 12-stroke victory.

For Rudick, it was a long-awaited breakout as a university player.

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Members of the Manitoba Hydro board visited Misipawistik Cree Nation and Chemawawin Cree Nation last week to learn more about the impacts of the Grand Rapids Generating Station and strengthen relationships with communities affected by hydroelectric development.

The two-day visit included spending time at culturally significant sites and discussions with leadership and community members, and a tour of generating stations and Grand Rapids fish hatchery, a Manitoba Hydro news release said.

The visit is part of Manitoba Hydro’s ongoing engagement with Indigenous communities affected by hydroelectric development, the release said. In 2024, the Manitoba Hydro board visited Gillam and met with First Nations that partner in the Keeyask Generating Station.

Last week’s visit to Misipawistik and Chemawawin came just weeks after the Federal Court on Sept. 3 ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

Decorated business vet Spiring announced as NSL Winnipeg president

Manitoba’s own Dayna Spiring is no stranger to the sports world, but her latest venture into the world of football — this time of the kick-about variety — is a whole new ball game.

“I’m getting up to speed on that as quickly as I can,” Spiring told the Free Press Tuesday, shortly after the accomplished business leader was announced as Northern Super League Winnipeg’s president.

Spiring joins an already stacked roster on the first women’s professional sports team in the Keystone province alongside the likes of NSL Winnipeg’s decorated co-founders Desiree Scott and Rob Gale.

And her own stats sheet is just as historic. Spiring was one of the first women to serve on the CFL’s Board of Governors and was the first woman to serve as chair of the Winnipeg Football Club’s board of directors. She is also the first woman to have her name engraved on the Grey Cup when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers captured back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021.

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

It’s official — a dozen people are running to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The deadline to both register to run as a candidate in October’s municipal election and file nomination papers was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The final list of mayoral candidates includes: incumbent Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein, Brad Gross, Mazher Alam, Mike Vogiatzakis, Christopher Clacio, Umar Hayat, Don Woodstock, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Noah Redden, and Tracey Drexler.

A total of 17 had registered to run but several either withdrew or did not meet the requirements to continue. Those included: Zachary Uminski, Ed Ackerman, Gagandeep Bawa, Abdel-Kareem Chehadi and Joaquin Sandul.