Final NBA viewership numbers for Christmas Day games slightly better than originally thought

Kinew won’t budge on opposition to criminalizing residential school denialism

Premier Wab Kinew stood by his opposition to the proposed criminalization of residential school denialism Wednesday, after some First Nations leaders criticized his earlier comments and asked him to reconsider.

Kinew said he doesn’t think Canada should make residential school denialism a crime, nor does he think it’s feasible to do, and he’d prefer to see it combated with education.

“When somebody has a question or wants to make a statement from a place of ignorance, the response isn’t to try to criminalize,” he told reporters.

“The response should be to try to heal whatever is going on with them that would cause them to say something hurtful, to try and educate whatever they lack in terms of knowledge about the true history of our country, and ultimately to find a way for us to all live together.”

Final NBA viewership numbers for Christmas Day games slightly better than originally thought

NEW YORK (AP) — The final viewership numbers are in for the NBA's five games on Christmas Day and they were even better than first thought, the league and ESPN announced Monday.

An average of 5.335 million viewers tuned in for the five games that spanned 13 hours on ESPN platforms, according to Nielsen, up slightly over the first projections from last week. That made it the most-watched Christmas slate of NBA games since 2019, the league said.

Viewership was up 87% over last Christmas' games, with some of the five time slots seeing massive increases in the numbers over a year ago. The San Antonio-New York game, Victor Wembanyama's Christmas debut for the Spurs, was the most-watched Christmas noon game in 13 years, averaging just under 5 million viewers — and was up 101% over last year.

The most-watched game was the 8 p.m. Eastern start between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State, the LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry matchup that averaged 7.9 million viewers and peaked at just under 8.5 million viewers toward the finish. That was up 511% from the same Christmas timeslot a year ago.

Mayoral candidates share faves, test knowledge in Free Press culture quiz

It’s been said that politics is downwind of culture. However true that is, where politicians stand on hot-button cultural debates such as artificial intelligence, whether they prefer sports over arts and what local restaurants they patronize can offer a window into their sensibilities and outlooks.

The Free Press invited the four leading mayoral candidates among decided voters — according to a recent Abacus poll — to take part in a cultural quiz. (Kevin Klein, who was polling second, did not respond.) While most of the questions are lighthearted, they speak to some of the personalities behind the heated rivalries over budgets, buses, business taxation and beyond.

What was the last book you finished?

● Scott Gillingham: I’m almost done Winnipeg author Paul Vincent Jacuzzi’s book Blind Eyes. It’s a Dalton Drake novel.

Police HQ inquiry final report will be released next week: Kinew

The final report of the public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters will be released next week, days before voters elect a mayor and city council, Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except for food and gas and important decisions until after 8:30 a.m. After that, the moon moves from Sagittarius into Capricorn.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You couldn’t pick a better day for sports training or improving a skill in the arts, music, welding, sculpting, pottery making or doing anything that requires repetition to improve. That’s because you have the patience and the perseverance to keep trying.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

A decision with potential for ‘distraction’ and ‘disrespect’ in Transcona

Transcona voters acknowledge they have a tough decision to make at the ballot box on election day.

The east Winnipeg working-class ward is replete with lawn signs and posters, but most of the people the Free Press spoke with said they were still undecided.

While Winnipeg is, historically, more likely to elect an incumbent, longtime councillor Russ Wyatt is seeking a sixth term while facing five criminal charges, including sexual assault and administering a noxious substance, after incidents alleged to have occurred in 2023 and 2025.

Residents are not without options. In addition to Wyatt, former councillor Shawn Nason — who occupied the city council seat from 2018-22 — is running for council (Wyatt chose not to run in the 2018 election after taking several months off to undergo addictions treatment), and there are three new faces on the ballot: Lora Meseman, Chris Giesbrecht and Nathine Dagdick.