Disney slates Fox films, ‘Avatar’ pushed another year

Daycare, family centre addition will turn care home into intergenerational community hub

Seven-year-olds and 70-somethings will socialize daily when a 152-spot daycare opens inside of a seniors’ residence in Winnipeg in a couple of years.

Construction on a new wing of the Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre is scheduled to begin this fall, it was announced Monday.

The project won’t be complete for at least 22 months, but it’s already being touted as a made-in-Manitoba model for intergenerational community hubs across the country.

“It’s a real good idea to mix the younger generation with the older generation,” said Allan Rutherford, a 79-year-old resident of the 200-bed personal care home in Linden Ridge.

Pair of banks abandoning Brandon’s downtown

Two of Canada’s major banks are set to relocate from their longstanding downtown Brandon locations in October.

Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope

An internal investigation by Manitoba’s Families Department is nearly complete in the case of a six-year-old girl who is paralyzed after being assaulted by her foster mother in Winnipeg.

The review by child-welfare officials is intended to prevent similar incidents, but it’s unlikely the public will learn the findings or recommendations.

“We’re working closely with the (child and family services) authority to make sure that every recommendation is taken seriously and implemented,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

“They’re important (investigations) because they help us identify what went wrong so we can make those changes to ensure something like this tragedy never happens again.”

Rural Manitoba homeowner charged with shooting at accused thieves

A homeowner in southern Manitoba has been charged after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property, police say.

Officers were sent to the Rural Municipality of Dufferin Saturday after a report of a theft in progress. RCMP said four people went to the property, located about 95 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and returned later the same day driving two vehicles stolen from Watrous, Sask.

The owner of the property, a 66-year-old man, saw the suspects on a motion-activated camera and saw someone transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles. The man confronted the group and fired shots towards the vehicles, police said.

Three people stayed at the scene until officers arrived and took them into custody, RCMP said. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of a truck. A fourth suspect fled in the other vehicle.

Disney slates Fox films, 'Avatar' pushed another year

NEW YORK - Now armed with the upcoming releases of 20th Century Fox, the Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday set forth a shock-and-awe release schedule spanning the next eight years, including the yet-again-postponed "Avatar" sequels, a new batch of "Star Wars" releases and Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" adaptation.

Since Disney's $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox was completed in March, the studio hadn't budged on the listed release dates of a number of Fox releases, even as it was increasingly apparent to the industry that high-profile upcoming films were sure to be delayed under the Disney shake-up.

But the most notable delay announced Tuesday was a familiar one: The long wait for more "Avatar" films will go on a little longer.

James Cameron's long-delayed "Avatar 2" will now open in theatres on December 17, 2021, instead of its most recent date of December 18, 2020 — which itself followed numerous already scrapped release dates. The subsequent "Avatar" sequels have moved to 2023, 2025 and 2027, respectively.