Cooks Creek jousting draws knights from Denmark, Australia

Transcona's Flamingo car wash promises 'soapy disco' for your ride

For Kyle Thompson, foam is where the heart is.

As a high school student at Winnipeg’s Transcona Collegiate, one of his classes required him to create a business plan. He was cleaning vehicles part-time at the Chamois Car Wash and Detail Centre, so he used the assignment to envision a car wash of his own — one with a Regent Avenue address.

Fast forward some 25 years later and that dream is a reality. Thompson is the co-owner and general manager at Flamingo Express Car Wash.

Located at 868 Regent Ave. West — east of the row of car dealerships that call the thoroughfare home and across the street from an Amazon distribution hub — Flamingo opened last month.

Education student designs lesson plans to take a bite out of food marketing

Instead of apples, Emma Caronte is handing out lesson plans on local food history to Manitoba teachers this back-to-school season.

The undergraduate researcher spent her summer break creating a social studies unit that investigates food guide evolution, marketing tactics and how honey dill sauce became a pantry staple on the Prairies.

“I want students to develop a greater interest in food and what outside influences affect their choices and what we consider ‘healthy,’” said Caronte, a final-year education student at the University of Manitoba.

She is advertising her 112-page project as a user-friendly resource for classroom teachers and “a fun sub plan” targeted at Grade 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Letters, Sept. 8

I recently read Manitoba Hydro’s integrated resource plan (IRP) and the independent review by Daymark Energy. I’m no expert, but it seems clear that Hydro’s plan to add three new gas combustion turbines to the Brandon power station is going to cost Manitobans a lot more than we bargained for.

Cooks Creek jousting draws knights from Denmark, Australia

EVERY two years -- or about the time the monstrous knight The Mountain seems to show up in an episode of Game of Thrones -- Cooks Creek becomes the medieval capital of Manitoba.

The community's Medieval Festival returns on Saturday, July 26, to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception and grotto, bringing with it a full-contact jousting event that has attracted modern-day knights in shining armour from as far away as Denmark and Australia.

"It's actually quite amazing to watch," says Darcia Senft, one of the festival's organizers, who compared the event to scenes from the Sean Connery 1995 film First Knight or the 2001 film A Knight's Tale starring Heath Ledger.

"When you see something like that in a movie, it's one thing, to see people in real life in a full suit of armour... it's certainly (a sport) not for the faint of heart."

The first day of school is a promise

This week, thousands of Manitoba students will walk through school doors carrying backpacks filled with new supplies, new hopes and, for some, new worries.

For parents and caregivers, this may be a familiar September routine — shopping for school supplies, adjusting schedules, preparing lunches and getting children ready for another year of learning.

For educators and school staff, it is the beginning of another demanding year.

But for Manitoba, this week should mean something more. It should be a renewal of our promise to every child.

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Patients were being turned away from several Dynacare locations Saturday morning as people packed the labs in hopes of getting their blood collection done before workers strike.

By 10:30 a.m. the lobby at the Dynacare at 1581 Regent Ave. was standing-room only and walk-up patients were being turned away as the wait time for those lucky enough to get in creeped past two hours.

One woman got in right before workers cut off walk-ins at 10 a.m. after travelling to two other locations.

“I was driving by at 7:15 this morning and there was already a line-up to the road, so I was like ‘nope, not going there’ so I went to the one on Sterling Lyon (Parkway) and it was closed, and then I went to the one at St. Vital Mall and there had a line zig-zagging all the way through the corridors so I gave up and came back,” said Joanna, who declined to give her last name.