Espalier pruning has artistic and practical benefits

Gimli Film Festival: Filmmaker’s new short tackles feelings around toplessness

When he’s hurtling down the highway for solo adventures on his Honda CB500X, Ande Brown often finds himself on Page 1 of an unwritten screenplay, drifting into imagined narratives about the interior lives of the men and women on the road around him.

“You go through any small town, and inevitably there’s a billboard for a real estate agent, so I’ll start making up a story about how they got into the business,” says Brown, a filmmaker who didn’t consider saying “cut” until his late 50s. “Hours will go by and I won’t even realize how far I’ve gone.”

Though he acknowledges that he’s a late bloomer in just about every way, Brown has used storytelling as escapism since he was raised by a devoted single mother in Arizona during the 1970s: at Phoenix’s airport, in an era of lax security, an adolescent Brown would sit in the terminal and concoct storylines about travellers’ comings and goings.

“There are ideas that float around, and they’ll find a head to go into, and if you reject it, they’ll find another one. There’s all kinds of inspiration out there, but you have to be open to it,” says Brown, whose latest short film, Half-Naked, premières Saturday at the Gimli International Film Festival.

Outreach group addresses safety concerns over Osborne Village drop-in centre

An outreach organization at the centre of growing concerns over safety in Osborne Village says it is taking steps to improve conditions around its drop-in centre and reaffirming its commitment to the neighbourhood.

“We recognize the concerns raised about the activity around our… drop-in site and understand the importance of maintaining a safe and welcoming neighbourhood for everyone including residents, families, local businesses and the people who access our services,” 1JustCity, which operates the drop-in Oak Table, said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

The organization said it is increasing staff presence, conducting regular patrols, expanding outreach efforts and extending Oak Table’s hours to provide more supervised indoor space, meals and access to supports, while continuing to monitor the surrounding neighbourhood and encourage respectful use of public spaces.

The province is also providing the organization with $500,000 to expand Oak Table’s hours and launch a new outreach team.

Animal rescue groups shaken by advocate’s death

A week after an animal rescue volunteer died doing what she loved at Sandy Bay First Nation, the charity she dedicated herself to has paused rescues as groups rally to prevent another mauling.

Winnipeg’s Amanda Nobiss, 37, was found dead July 17 after police were contacted by a friend trying to locate her. She often visited the community 180 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg to save animals.

Several “aggressive dogs” were found near where Nobiss’s body was located, Manitoba First Nation Police Service has said. It did not respond Friday when asked for an update on its investigation into her death.

“What happened is the most tragic, heartbreaking thing that could have possibly happened,” said Chelsea Kork, president of K9 Advocacy Manitoba, the charity Nobiss volunteered with.

Sweet sendoff for apprentice jockey

Three outside smoothies and a crunchy ride up the rail in the $40,000 Frank Arnason Sire Stakes on Tuesday vaulted apprentice jockey Ciera Pruitt into the top 10 at Assiniboia Downs for the first time this year.

The crunch came first. And she won’t be here much longer.

Pruitt led all jockeys on the week with four victories, the first coming aboard Manitoba-bred Bromeo in the 39th running of the Frank Arnason, for her mother, trainer Lise Pruitt. Bromeo and Pruitt duelled from the inside throughout and prevailed after a long, tight drive up the rail to take home the $24,000 winner’s share of the purse for longtime owner/breeder Barry Arnason.

“I just got really lucky, honestly,” said Pruitt. “Everything kind of fell into my hands. God was looking after me this week and it all worked out in my favour.”

E-scooter knocks senior onto sidewalk as he gets off bus

A Winnipeg man was thrown onto the pavement and injured after being struck by an electric scooter after stepping off a Winnipeg Transit bus Monday afternoon, an incident he hopes will push the city to take a closer look at sidewalk safety.

Mountain View teacher stripped of licence over explicit messages

A Roblin teacher has been stripped of his professional licence after an undercover police investigation found he sent explicit messages to a social media user he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.

Manitoba cancelled Josh Braaksma’s credentials — listed in the province’s online registry under his full name, Joshua William Braaksma — on July 6. His certificate was suspended on an interim basis in the fall.

The misconduct case involving Braaksma, who has taught and coached in the Mountain View School Division over the last decade, is the first to be resolved via a “written hearing.”

“Having regard to the nature, content and context of (his) communications, the panel finds that the teacher’s conduct renders him unsuitable to be a teacher,” the disciplinary decision states.