Norwegian author Ingvar Ambjørnsen dies at age 69

Minimum wage hikes set to begin across five provinces

The minimum wage is going up in five provinces.

The bumps of between 25 and 40 cents come in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Like other government announcements, Ontario has tied the increase to the rising cost of living.

It's moving its minimum wage up to $17.95 an hour, while P.E.I. is boosting it to $17.30 and Nova Scotia moves it to $17.

Ferraro gets call-up to the Jets

Landon Ferraro vividly recalls the moment his NHL career came to an extremely painful end — Oct. 20, 2017, in downtown Winnipeg.

“My last play was a breakaway on Connor Hellebuyck,” Ferraro told the Free Press this week.

“I tried to poke the puck past the first D. It was me and (Dustin) Byfuglien chasing it down. I thought he was going to throw me across the ice, so I tried to cut in on him, and he moved. I overextended, and I literally ripped my abductor off the bone and gave myself a hernia.”

Ferraro — at the time playing forward for the visiting Minnesota Wild — said he managed to get off a weak shot that hit the Jets goaltender square in the chest. But his 77th appearance in the big leagues would be his last following previous stops with Detroit (which drafted him 32nd overall in 2009) and Boston.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions after 9 p.m. The moon is in Gemini.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Your mind is focused, giving you common sense and practical ideas. This is an excellent day to sign up for a course or learn something new. Don’t hesitate to listen to the advice of someone older or more experienced because after all, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Dynacare workers provide essential services that must be maintained during strike, labour board rules

The Manitoba Labour Board has ruled Dynacare workers are essential employees and their services must be maintained during a labour dispute.

Norwegian author Ingvar Ambjørnsen dies at age 69

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Ingvar Ambjørnsen, a Norwegian author who mixed a sharp, even dark tone with humor and empathy in works that depicted the lives of the oppressed and vulnerable, has died, his publisher said. He was 69.

The Cappelen Damm publishing house did not specify the cause of death. Ambjørnsen had long been public with his battle against a lung illness called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

Norwegian tabloid VG reported he is survived by his wife, Gabriele Haefs, saying she posted news of Ambjørnsen's death on Saturday.

Born on May 20, 1956, in Tönsberg — described on his German-language author website as “Norway’s most bar-filled town” — Ambjørnsen grew up in Larvik and worked in various jobs in industry and psychiatry before publishing his first documentary novel in 1981. Four years later, he moved to Hamburg, where he lived for decades.

Woman took ‘meaningful’ responsibility after disposing of body: lawyer

A woman who was threatened with death if she didn’t help dispose the body of a Mexican man murdered in the basement of a North End home should serve no more jail time, a judge has been told.

Devlin Langlois, 25, has pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder in the March 2025 killing of 28-year-old Diego Moscoza.

“By pleading guilty, Ms. Langlois has already taken meaningful accountability for her actions,” defence lawyer Joshua Rogala told King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond at a sentencing hearing Monday.

He urged the judge to sentence Langlois to the equivalent of 14 months already served, plus two years supervised probation.