Mark Hoffman out as CNBC chief, KC Sullivan replacing him

All quiet on the Hellebuyck front

Pull up a chair, folks, as we address the elephant in the room. Or, to be more precise, the decorated goaltender who is not in the room. Or on the ice. Or even in the city.

Not surprisingly, the Connor Hellebuyck situation took centre stage Tuesday as members of the Winnipeg Jets held their first media session following an informal, pre-training camp skate.

“We’re definitely going to get asked about it. That’s no chirp to anybody. I think that’s just the reality of the situation,” admitted veteran defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who took part in an hour-long practice at Hockey For All Centre that involved nearly every member of the organization.

With one very notable exception, of course.

Finding my way through the ‘odd uneven time’

I am taking a turn in the garden with a cup of tea on a Friday morning.

It is 16 C in St. John’s but feels warmer in the stillness. We have been given the rare gift of a morning without wind. I gladly accept it.

High in the overcast sky, a seagull screeches a lament. Near my feet, chickadees and juncos are flittering and tittering in the shrubbery.

Tomorrow and Sunday call for torrential rains, the kind that — when paired with lashing winds — will strip rose petals away and give the slender daylilies a sound thrashing. Violent imagery, yes, but accurate. I know what to expect. I’ve been around the block.

Pointing fingers at Tories three years after election tiresome, accomplishes nothing

There is a point in every government’s life when blaming the previous government stops being an explanation and starts becoming an excuse.

For Manitoba’s NDP government, that point has arrived.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe was asked last week about a grievance filed by Crown attorneys over excessive workloads and a government attempt to keep a report documenting those workloads out of an upcoming arbitration hearing.

Wiebe said he couldn’t discuss the arbitration case.

All that glitters … could work here

Sometimes, it’s hard to even suggest a change, because it seems there is always a plethora of people ready to tell you that your idea just won’t work.

Bumps in the road as students collect free bus passes

Alexis Enns left her guidance counsellor’s office empty-handed, but no less excited about starting Grade 12 — even though she still didn’t know how she would get there or her timetable — on Tuesday.

“My summer was pretty boring,” the 17-year-old said after an unsuccessful trip to get her free bus pass and bearings at Technical Vocational High School.

“I like back-to-school. I like having somewhere to be every day and something to do every day.”

For some families in the Winnipeg School Division, hers included, the 2026-27 academic year kicked off with delays related to the rollout of free youth transit and course schedules.

‘It blew my mind that four lives were taken’

A two-vehicle crash that killed four teenage friends in the Interlake Sunday night prompted outpourings of grief in several communities and calls for safety improvements at the intersection, which was also the site of a death in July.

Recent high school graduates Maya Borsa and Chloe Vermette, both 18, were identified by their families as victims of the collision at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach.

“(Chloe) was a very bubbly, loving personality. Always giving, always caring. Her friends meant the world to her,” said her mother, Veronique Vermette, who struggled to comprehend the tragedy when she went to the scene Monday. “We sat in the rain for hours, and it blew my mind that four lives were taken.”

The teens’ parents are waiting for RCMP to provide more information about the cause of the crash. Chloe, who graduated from Windsor Park Collegiate in Winnipeg in July, was driving one of the vehicles, her mother said.