‘Heated Rivalry’ wins Peabody Award for presenting non-toxic side of masculinity

St. Amant gets boost for autism supports

Manitoba parents Jamie and Colin Hilding say they could not imagine their lives without the support they’ve received from St. Amant Centre in Winnipeg.

On Wednesday, the province announced an injection of $6.75 million to get more families of those with autism the help they need.

The announcement, made at St. Amant Centre on River Road, will see $5 million given to the organization which supports more than 2,200 people with developmental disabilities, autism and acquired brain injury.

It will be used to implement additional early intervention supports, like behavioral and language pathology programs, double capacity for school-aged services and increase case management capacity.

White-supremacist highway sign casts pall on Steinbach city council campaign

The RCMP is investigating a white-nationalist sign near Steinbach with racist messaging and alleged links to a known Canadian far-right group.

‘Heated Rivalry’ wins Peabody Award for presenting non-toxic side of masculinity

Canadian hockey romance "Heated Rivalry" has won a Peabody Award.

The American awards honour excellence in storytelling that reflects social issues.

Jurors say the show "inspired gay athletes to come out, boosted hockey sales and dispelled Hollywood’s limiting beliefs about the value of diverse stories."

The series, which was created by Jacob Tierney, debuted on Crave and HBO Max in November and quickly gained a fan base.

Storm costs not factored in to MPI request for 2.38% rate increase

Manitoba Public Insurance told the Public Utilities Board Tuesday it didn’t factor in reinsurance costs related to devastating summer storms in its application for an increase to vehicle insurance rates.

Cara Low, the Crown corporation’s chief actuary, told the board that given MPI anticipates an increase to reinsurance premiums, the 2.38 per cent increase listed in its application won’t be adequate to cover its costs.

“There’s going to be a significant increase. We still have to decide how much we want to retain, what we want the coverage to look like, and what the upper end needs to be,” she said on the opening day of a three-week hearing.

Nearly 41,000 claims have been submitted in relation to summer storms that swept across southern Manitoba from June to August. Floods, tornadoes and hail pummelled several communities and forced MPI to open satellite claims centres to deal with the record number of calls.

Riding the Unity Bus to rally support for Canada in Alberta

It’s a chilly Thanksgiving Monday morning on the eastern edge of Alberta. A sharp wind nips at exposed skin and drab grey clouds hang low in the sky. Such weather does not encourage high spirits, but Unity Bus volunteers can’t afford to let theirs falter: in just one week, on Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on a historic question on whether to remain in Canada.

Commonwealth Members program seeks to rev up discount-driven foot traffic for local businesses

Special deals are available at dozens of Winnipeg businesses — but you’ve got to become a member first.

Local entrepreneur Nikola Maharajh launched Commonwealth Members last month. People who sign up and pay the membership fee are entitled to discounts at more than 30 participating businesses, including restaurants, a computer store and combat sports gym.

Maharajh said his goal is to help Winnipeg thrive by making it easier for people to leave the comfort of home and support local establishments.

“We want to make going out the default again,” he said. “It’s very convenient to go home and order food online and watch Netflix and not go out, but then the city dies. The streets become less safe (and) the businesses struggle to survive in that as well. We want to preserve living culture.”